Accidentally In Love
by lagseeing1123
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki was just supposed to help his best friend Kiba Inuzuka into getting a date with Hinata Hyuuga, but how did it end up with him accidentally falling in love with the girl of his best friend's dreams. Main pairing NaruHina. One-sided KibaHina. One-sided NaruSaku. My first straight multichapter story. Rated M in later chapters. Highschool fic.
1. Chapter 1

Naruto Uzumaki was just supposed to help his best friend Kiba Inuzuka into getting a date with Hinata Hyuuga, but how did it end up with him accidentally falling in love with the girl of his best friend's dreams. Main pairing NaruHina. One-sided KibaHina. One-sided NaruSaku. My first straight multichapter story. Rated M in later chapters. Highschool fic.

Accidentally In Love

Chapter 1

The Plan

It was break time just before the last afternoon class and standing in the hallway was Naruto Uzumaki, a junior who excitedly ran out of the room as soon as the bell rang in order to ｗait for a special someone. A few minutes ago, while a boring class was on-going, Naruto had been busy watching Youtube videos on his phone, sneakily hiding it under his desk as he watched for the recent popular videos. One movie trailer caught his attention and after watching it, he was hit by a great idea of asking Sakura Haruno, his longtime crush to go watch the movie with him the next day considering it would be a Saturday. And that was why he was waiting for her so that he could ask her out. After around 30 seconds and flocks of other students passing by, he caught sight of Sakura.

"Hiya Sakura-chan." Naruto greeted his crush with an ear splitting grin. The pink-haired girl immediately frowned upon seeing him although she tried her best to hide it to the oblivious blond. "I was wondering since it's Saturday tomorrow, I uh... wanna ask if you have any plans 'cause I just saw a trailer for this movie and maybe you would wanna..."

"Naruto for the 100th time, I'm not gonna go out with you." groaned Sakura in annoyance before Naruto could even finish.

"Bu-but, come on Sakura just let me take you out on a date, even if just one." Naruto pleaded with his palms together in a sort of prayer position. "I promise we'll have fun."

"No." Sakura denied firmly.

"But why not?"

"Because I... because I don't want to. Now let me pass through 'cause I need to get to my last class." she grumbled with irritation.

"We can go together, I mean we both have the same cla..."

"No." the pinkette cut him off quickly. "I can definitely go there on my own."

And with that Sakura walked pass Naruto who still tried to call out to her but almost as if expected was once again rejected for a date with her.

'Ugh, why won't she just give me a chance? Just one date.' Naruto sighed to himself. He couldn't even count on his two hands and two feet the number of times he tried asking her out. She would always say 'No', no matter how many times Naruto asked her. He's asked her out to eat lunch, to eat at Ichiraku Ramen, to watch movies, and even offering to help her with homework quite a few times before.

Sometimes Naruto wonders if he should just give up but he knew he just couldn't. He was just too smitten by Sakura that he'd do anything just to get even one date with her. Just to be able to chat longer with her, to be able to admire her close as they eat dinner in some fancy restaurant or even enjoy a day in the amusement park with her.

'Why do I like you so much, Sakura-chan?' he asked himself, like the many times he's already done so before.

"So, got denied again?" a voice suddenly asked him from behind along with a tap on his shoulder which made Naruto jump out in surprise.

"Ki-kiba! Don't fucking do that. You scared the shit out of me." Naruto said as he turned to see his best friend.

Kiba Inuzuka was in many ways a lot like Naruto. It was the reason why the two of them had been best friends since they were kids. Their personalities are so much alike. Both are also around the same height and built, Kiba just an inch taller. The two are athletically inclined sharing the love of basketball. Both of them are naturally tan although Kiba was more tan and they both have messy hair. Where Naruto's hair was golden blond and spiky, Kiba's was a chocolate brown and shaggy, like a bedhead.

Another similar thing about them was they both had special markings on their faces which were the most distinguishable things about them. Naruto had three horizontal marks on each of his cheeks which were some sort of discoloration that he had since birth. It made him look like he had whiskers and it made everybody who first met him very curious as to how he got them. He didn't have an explanation to give them though, only that his older brother Kurama has the same markings too.

Kiba on the other hand had two red fang markings on his cheeks. Unlike Naruto's, this was a tattoo that was given to every Inuzuka by the age of seven. It was some sort of tribal ritual that's been passed on from many generations. Also, Naruto had bright blue eyes while Kiba's was a dark brown.

"You know I don't really get why you just couldn't go for another girl." Kiba said as he shook his head.

"Well maybe I should be saying that to you too because the same goes for you with Hinata." Naruto retorted.

"Yeah sure I still can't get her to go out with me but at least she's nice. Sakura is just so... harsh?"

"She's not harsh. She's just naturally like that. She's just focused on school stuff that's why she won't go out with me." Naruto defended.

"Keep telling yourself that. We both know Sakura is in love with Sasuke that's why asking her out ain't gonna work." Kiba told him.

"Grrr. Stupid Sasuke Uchiha. Why can't he just fucking get a girlfriend so Sakura-chan could agree to go out with me?"

"I bet hell needs to freeze before I see him dating. The guy's asexual. With all the girls flocking over him he should have already went out with at least one. He's probably gay if he's turned each and everyone of them down."

"Yeah. But if he is then we just gotta prove it so Sakura-chan can finally stop thinking about him. Now we need a plan to..."

RIIIIIIING. RIIIIIIING

"Aw shit that's the warning bell. We should go." Kiba said.

"Yeah, let's go." Naruto agreed. The two hurried across the hallway and reached their room just before their Physics teacher Asuma Sarutobi arrived. The two took their seats on the back.

"Good afternoon class. Now before we start our lesson for today, I'm going to give you your pairings for a project due two weeks from now." the heavily bearded man said. "Now I suggest you keep quiet and listen. I have already paired you randomly. Now let me call on the names."

 _ **Ino Yamanaka and Shikamaru Nara**_ were the first pair to be announced. This had Ino groaning at why it could not be with Sasuke or Sai, two of the boys in their class that she adores. Shikamaru on the other hand, the one with the most gifted mind in the entire 11th grade class just muttered a 'troublesome'.

Next, _**Karin Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha**_

A loud 'yes' was heard from the back, coming from a certain red-haired girl while the other girls in the classroom could only mourn the lost chance of being paired up with Sasuke, the school heartthrob. Sakura was one of those girls and Naruto could see just that. Sakura might not like not being paired with the Uchiha but that meant Naruto still had a chance to be paired up with her. Sasuke on the other hand crossed his arms and sighed. He hated paired assignments, especially when being paired up with a girl who wants nothing more than to get in his pants.

The list went on and Naruto sat there with his heart on the edge, just waiting for either his name or Sakura's to be called and wishing they would be called one after the other. It was a long wait because almost all the class had been called except for four people. Naruto, Kiba, Sakura and Hinata.

Both Naruto and Kiba looked at each other, almost celebrating the possibility of being paired up with the girl of their dreams before it was even known.

 _ **Sakura Haruno**_

"This is it, this is it!" Naruto muttered in his seat. "Please let it be me, let it be me!"

 _ **and Kiba Inuzuka**_

"WHAT?!" the two boys shouted out in disbelief.

And the last pair is _**Hinata Hyuuga and Naruto Uzumaki**_.

"And there will be no more changing of that. No exchanging of partners, got it?" Mr. Sarutobi clearly iterated.

"But you can't be serious?" Kiba stood up as he complained to their teacher. "Why can't we exchange our…"

"Because I said so!" Mr. Sarutobi cut him off. "As I've told you, this list was made randomly. This is to at least make the pairings fair. Now I suggest you take your seat Mr. Inuzuka before I take your name out of this project that's 10% of your grade for this quarter."

Kiba instantly sat down, his body unable to move due to fear of Mr. Sarutobi. He's never felt so intimidated by a teacher in his entire life. Naruto who was just there sitting beside him could only frown in frustration.

"Ah damn it Kiba. Why'd you have to be the one paired up with Sakura? Why couldn't it be that my name be called before yours?" Naruto mumbled as he let his head rest on his desk in defeat.

"I'd tell you how I'm wishing right now for that to happen. I'd give anything to be paired up with Hinata. But we can't do anything about it." Kiba let his back lean lazily against his chair as he kicked his desk a bit in annoyance. "This sucks."

"Yeah." agreed Naruto. He was almost paired up with Sakura. If that happened then he wouldn't even have to ask her out to be able to spend time with her. It really sucked.

"But wait, maybe we can make something good out of this." Kiba excitedly said as he straightened himself up to look at Naruto. The blond turned his head up to see the look on Kiba's face which told him that his best friend had likely just come up with a good plan.

"You know how this project would take at least a week to do?" asked Kiba.

"Uh huh."

"That means we'll have to spend quite some time with our partners. I with Sakura and you with Hinata."

"Yeah I know but how does that sound good? I want to work with Sakura and I'm sure you want to work with Hinata." Naruto reminded him sadly.

"Well of course I do but…"

"MR. INUZUKA and UZUMAKI! Both of you will get one hour of detention and you're serving it after this class." Mr. Sarutobi yelled at them from the front of the room, making the two's hearts jump out from their rib cages.

"What? But we were just…" the two complained in unison but both stopped as they saw the look on Mr. Sarutobi's irritated face. The two realized that if they spoke one more word that the one hour of detention would probably be turned into two. Or worse.

"Now, let's talk about how this project will be done." Mr. Sarutobi continued as both Naruto and Kiba sat helpless. The project was about creating circuits, different types to be used for housing lights although on a smaller scale. Still, the task was complicated enough that a pair would really require someone who can design the circuits and someone who can build them.

When the clock hit 3 PM, the bell rung indicating the end of the class, which was their last class of the day. The students went to find their partners to be able to discuss as soon as possible what their plan would be on making the said project.

"So uh, I guess I'll go see Sakura and talk a bit about the project before we go to detention." Kiba announced.

"Well that should be me," Naruto said with a pout. "But yeah, I should go see Hinata."

"Fuck this really sucks. I don't even speak much with Sakura." groaned Kiba.

"The same goes for me with Hinata."

"It's not like we can do something about it but after detention I'll tell you my plan. I think you'll like it."

"Does it involve finally getting Sakura to go on a date with me?"

"Possibly. And maybe I can finally convince Hinata to go out with me too."

"Sweet." Naruto grinned. "Well then, I'll see you later Kiba."

Naruto waved off to his friend and then scanned the room for his partner. Long blue-violet hair, pale eyes and a cream baggy jacket. He checked first from the right side of the classroom because that's where she usually sat and to his luck she was still on her seat, tucking away her notebook and pen inside her bag. Naruto approached her and waited until she was finished packing her stuff.

"Hiya Hinata." Naruto called out to his partner. This caused the timid girl to tense in surprise before she turned to face Naruto, her cheeks beginning to glow red.

"Na-naruto ku-kun. Hi-hi." she struggled to say back. Naruto looked at her studyingly, wondering why Hinata always spoke like that whenever he spoke with her.

"So it looks like we're going to be partners for this project. This is the first time I'll be working with you as part of a dyad so I promise to do what I can."

"Oh. I'm sure you will. So, are we go-gonna be ta-talking about what to do with the project now?" she asked, continuing to stutter.

"I was planning to but you know how Kiba and I got detention again." Naruto said, chuckling as he scratched his head in excuse. "I was wondering if you would just want to talk about it next week Monday. It's not due in two weeks anyway."

"Oh okay. I suppose we can just di-discuss it next week."

"Great. Well then, I'll see you next week Hinata." Naruto said before he went his way out of the classroom to find Kiba.

"Yeah. I'll see you, Naruto-kun." Hinata said softly, only for herself to hear then she gave a huge sigh of relief once Naruto was gone.

'Oh my, I'm actually going to be working with Naruto-kun. Finally I get to spend time with him and then maybe he'll...' Hinata thought and her face turned red even more. Realizing this she quickly scanned the room to see if there was someone who might have seen her like that and was relieved to find she was the only one left in the room.

...

"Hey, so what did you and Hinata talk about?" Kiba immediately asked once Naruto caught up to him on the way to the detention room.

"Oh that, I just told her I'll do my best with the project and that we should just talk about it next Monday 'cause of detention."

"I'd probably skip detention so I can talk with her longer if I were in your place. But anyway, I just got threatened with a punch to knock me out to next week if I don't do my part in the project. Sakura is scary man, come on, girls shouldn't be threatening like that." Kiba said with a shiver.

"She's just worrying about her grades so I suggest you do your best with this project Kiba. I can't have you pulling Sakura-chan down." Naruto warned.

"Ha, as if. Setting up electrical wires are easy. She just needs to tell me what to do and I'll get it done. Anyway, we should hurry and get this detention over with so I can tell you my plan."

"Okay."

And so the two served their one hour detention, trying their best to not cause any more trouble and keeping themselves quiet. When the teacher finally let them go home, they hurriedly ran out of school and on to the direction of Naruto's house which was just 3 blocks away downtown.

"So, what's this plan you've come up with?" Naruto asked as soon as he could, umable to contain his curiosity anymore.

"Yeah, that. I don't know if you've also thought about this but since I'll be working with Sakura and you with Hinata, maybe we could help each other out."

"Help each other out? But on what and how?"

"You'll try to find out what Hinata likes and I'll find out what Sakura likes. In that way once we know more things about them, we'd have a better shot at getting them to go out with us. We can be subtle and they might not even think we're doing this for each other." explained Kiba.

"So we're gonna like spy on them for each other?"

"Yeah. Although not only that. Maybe I can try to talk Sakura into giving you one date and you can convince Hinata to go out with me."

"But how?"

"Don't worry. I know what I'd do with Sakura. As for Hinata, I'd like you to find out why she doesn't wanna go out on a date. She's always telling it's because her father doesn't want her to date until she finished college but I think there's more to it than that. Then like I said, you can also try finding ｏut about things she likes, let's say food or hobbies. Maybe that's just what I need to be able to ｇet her to go out with me."

"Oh. So I'm just gonna pretend like I'm asking random stuff but I'm actually gonna ask her in your place?"

"Exactly. And I also thought about another thing we can do to get Sakura to date you."

"Re-really? Come on tell me." Naruto demanded excitedly.

"You remember how Sasuke's partner is your cousin Karin?"

"Yeah."

"We both know Karin likes Sasuke. So what I'm thinking is, if we get Sasuke to date Karin, then Sakura might lose interest in Sasuke and finally agree to go out with you." stated Kiba as if it were obvious.

"What?" the blond looked at Kiba in disbelief. "So you're saying that I'm just some sort of a last resort?"

"No. Of course not. You're not a..." Kiba defended but realized that it did sound like that, now that he thought about it. "I mean, do you have a better idea?"

"Well no. I've tried everything in asking her out. She just always declines me. I tried asking her out for movies, for something to eat, asked her if I could help her with her homework, even walk her home but she won't even let me finish with my words." Naruto complained.

"That's because you're asking her out for the wrong things."

"The wrong things?"

"It's too obvious. For movies you ask her to go watch action movies and do most girls watch that? Of course not, especially not someone like Sakura. She probably likes chick flicks. Second, you always ask her out for ramen and she's a girl who's probably concerned with what she eats to keep her body in a good shape. She's not gonna eat ramen. Third, you offer to help her with assignments and yet you're the one who probably needs help from her." the Inuzuka pointed out.

"Ouch Kiba. I know I'm not the smartest kid but you didn't need to tell me that last part."

"Well sorry but I was just pointing out some facts here." Kiba defended. Naruto just sighed knowing Kiba did have a point.

"Yeah I know. But why are you telling me this only now? If I'd known earlier I probably would have asked her out to some other things."

"I only figured it out now. And besides, that's exactly the reason why we're gonna help each other in getting to know them better. So, are we gonna do this or what?"

"I don't really understand what you're planning but as long as I get to have my beautiful Sakura-chan, I'm game."

"Well then..."

"...let's do this!" the two said with resolve as they bumped fists in the air, determined smirks showing on both their faces.

A/N: And that's it for my introductory chapter. This is my first time writing a multichapter straight pairing story. If you've been following me before, you'd know I write mostly KibaNaru multi-chap fics (3 of them) and lemons, SasuNaru one-shot lemons, and NaruKarin lemons (most popular). You might be surprised I decided to write a straight pairing this time so let me just tell that I want to try something new.

This story's gonna contain more drama than my other fics and would involve more characters in relationships. Also I will be keeping the chapters at around 3,500 words, unlike the usual 5,000 words with my previous stories. This is so that I can update more often and ｎot to feel as burdened.

So, I wanna ask your opinion on this story. Is the plot too cliche? Should I continue it? Leave your answers in a review and we'll see if I'll be continuing this story. And if you're a beta who specializes in NaruHina, I'd be glad to have your help. Just PM me if you want to be my beta.

The story title is also subject to future change, depending if I'll be able to think of a better one. Suggestions are welcomed.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Naruto, just a minute left until the bell rings. You remember the plan?" Kiba asked as he stared at the wall clock on their room.

"Yeah. Just find out stuff about Hinata that can help you get a date with her." Naruto recited then looked expecting of Kiba. "And of course you're gonna do the same with Sakura-chan."

"Then good." Kiba smirked. It was Monday afternoon of the last class and that meant he was gonna be meeting up with Sakura after the bell rings and Naruto with Hinata.

RING.

"Okay class. You are dismissed." Mr. Sarutobi announced as the whole class became busy picking up their stuffs. "And you guys better start working on those projects now."

"So uh, I suppose I better go see Hinata." Naruto said.

"Yeah you should." Kiba agreed while he sorted out his stuff. Naruto took his books and went straight to his partner's table where he surprised the shy girl once again.

"Hi Hinata." he greeted heartily, making Hinata jump in place at his voice. It took a few seconds before she was able to look at Naruto although not yet directly in his eyes with her face flushing a little bit.

"H-hi Naruto-kun."

"So we're gonna talk about the project today aren't we? Do you have any suggestions on where we can work on it?" Naruto asked. Hinata took that question as an opportunity to gather herself up and not act so nervous around her crush.

"Uhm, maybe the library?" she said in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

"Wait what was that? I didn't hear you there."

"The library." she repeated a bit louder, hoping he would hear.

"The library?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at her. He hated that place. The librarian Mrs. Biwako was too strict and happens to be 's mother. He's been given too many detentions before due to his difficulty in controlling his loudness during those time he did work in the library. "But that's the place where you're supposed to keep quiet, right? We can't talk about it there."

"Oh. I suppose not." Hinata sighed.

"I know. We can use one of the benches around campus." Naruto suggested. "That way it's okay if I speak a little loud, unlike in the library."

"Oh, okay."

"Do you need to go back to your locker?"

"Yes, I need to get some of these books back."

"Do you want me to carry them for you?" Naruto offered.

"Oh no, you don't re-really have to... they're not really heavy." Hinata reasoned out. She couldn't believe Naruto would offer to do something like that for her but even though, she didn't want to impose.

"Uh, okay then." Naruto smiled. He knew it was always polite to offer help to girls so it was more of a natural thing for him to do rather than something with other intentions like when he offered Sakura help. He accompanied Hinata to her locker and while she placed her books there, Naruto did the same with his as their lockers were only around 20 feet away. After finishing, he ran back up to Hinata.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yes."

"Well then, let's go." Naruto grinned as he took Hinata by the hand to lead her outside. The shy girl's face reddened at his hold although unnoticed to the innocent blond. They made their way past the students in the hallway until they found a bench with an abundant shade from the huge trees surrounding it. The two sat down and Naruto positioned himself with his ears all ready to hear what Hinata had to say about the project. After all, he really didn't get much about what they needed to do due to how complicated it was for him.

"So uh, what are we supposed to do again?"

"It's a circuit using small light bulbs and switches."

"Oh yeah. I kinda forgot. That sounds really difficult but you know how to work with it right?"

"Well I suppose I can try to design the circuits required by Mr. Sarutobi. We need to use at least 10 light bulbs and connect them with wires and switches in such a way that we can control them, or make them show patterns with the use of the switches."

"Switches huh? Okay, I really don't know how to design that but I believe I can build them. My dad has taught me and my older brother Kurama on how to install light bulbs and switches before one time when built a shack on our backyard." Naruto told her.

"I'm glad to hear that, cause I admit I... I've never really done such things before." Which was only expected of a girl from the Hyuuga clan.

"That's okay. You plan the circuit and I'll build them. Maybe I can even teach you how to make them yourself too."

"I suppose I could always try it. And actually I've already drafted out the circuit we're going to build." the girl announced. "I'll explain it to you and you can maybe uhm... comment on it and we can decide whether it's okay or if it would need changes."

"That's cool. You really made that during the weekends? And here I only played video games and basketball that time. Hehe." Naruto chuckled with a scratch on his head.

"My father expects me to do my homeworks during weekends so I... do you want me to show you now how the lighting and switches work?"

"Yeah sure."

And so Hinata explained her plan for their project. It took all her courage, little it was to be able to speak as continuously as possible and trying her best to get rid of the shakiness of her voice. Naruto watched her as she explained, not failing to notice her nervousness. This was like the longest time he's spoken with Hinata even since they were elementary students. It was kind of curious really that they were seldom grouped together in projects and this was the first time he was paired up with her. It made him remember that it probably was also due to him not sharing the same classes with her for most of the previous years.

Naruto knew that Hinata was shy but never imagined it to be like this. Was she also like this when Kiba speaks with her? Could she be declining Kiba when he asked her out for dates due to her shyness? It could be but even so, Naruto also didn't think Hinata was the type of girl to date in high school. She was more of the studious type and unlike most girls, he never heard about Hinata having crushes on anyone.

"So, that's what we are going to do." Hinata said lastly which jerked Naruto out of his musings. The blond blinked and was trying to remember what it was that she said. He tried his best to look like he was listening fully the entire time.

"Do you think it's a good plan?" the Hyuuga girl asked, her thoughts swimming with tbe possibility that Naruto might disapprove.

"Oh yeah sure Hinata." Naruto agreed. He might not have caught the last but he believed strongly about what Hinata has designed. Hearing Naruto's approval, Hinata was celebrating inside and could only look forward to when she starts to actually build the project with her long time crush.

 _ **Kiba and Sakura**_

As soon as Naruto ｗent to see Hinata, Kiba too began his search for his partner. The only girl with that bubble gum pink hair wouldn't be too hard to spot and as soon as he was out of the room, he saw her walking towards the direction of her locker, possibly. It made Kiba wonder why she didn't stay in the classroom to wait for him to talk about the project. Could she have forgotten?

'She probably just doesn't want to work with me since I'm not Sasuke.' Kiba thought to himself but he quickly dismissed it. As much as he preferred to go home already to play some games on his console, doing this project is necessary if he was to passｔhe subject. And of course he also needed to use this as an opportunity to find out more about Sakura for Naruto's sake.

He would find out what he can and if by it he comes to find out that Sakura wasn't fit to be Naruto's girlfriend, he'd tell the blond what's good for him. Honestly he didn't like Sakura's personality at all. She acts like a bitch most of the time, thinking about how pretty she is and how rude she sometimes treats Naruto when the blond tries to ask her out.

But of course he wasn't gonna judge just like that so this working together with her would be the one to confirm his thoughts on her.

"Sakura." he called out to her as he reached her locker. She looked towards him looking surprised to see him.

"Oh it's you." the pinkette said, not really looking too pleased and not even giving an effort to fake it. "So we're gonna start on the project today right?"

"That's what you told me last week, so here I am since I obviously do not want to incur your wrath." Kiba said chuckling. Although whether it was a chuckle of a joke or a nervous chuckle, one couldn't tell.

"Well that's good to hear. I wanna be able to be finished with this project as soon as possible. I still have a lot of advance reading I want to do, and some shows to watch." she informed.

"Whoa, I'm not surprised about the reading but you have shows to watch?" Kiba asked, tilting his head and scrunching his eyebrows upon hearing her statement.

"You thought all I do is study? Ha, of course not." Sakura smirked. "Now why don't we go to the library and discuss what our project's gonna look like"

"Okay. That's fine with me. Better get this over with."

And so the two went their way inside the library on the second floor of the building. They chose a table in the far corner of the room where they didn't need to keep their voices too soft. Sakura had already drafted the design, even having went as far as listing down how many light bulbs, sockets, switches, length of wiring and other necessary materials they needed to obtain.

Kiba sat there listening intently, actually now getting interested in the project. Sakura was good, he can't deny that. How could she have thought of all that in just the weekend? If he did something like that his head would have probably tangled just as the wirings would.

After telling him all that, Sakura asked that Kiba should be the one to buy the stuff as it wasn't a girl thing to go to a hardware store buying bulbs, wirings and other things. After all, she was the one who designed the project and Kiba didn't seem to have any comments regarding it, well maybe except for the choice of the pink colored light bulbs.

"But shouldn't you go buy these with me?" Kiba reasoned out with her. His objective was to get to know more about Sakura and even though he didn't wish to, spending more time with her would give him more opportunities to ask questions.

"I've told you already, I did my part in the planning stage." Sakura replied with a frown. "Now it's your turn to do something."

"But what if I buy the wrong stuff?"

"You're the guy Kiba. I'm sure you're more familiar to what these things look like than me. You told me last week how experienced you are with electronics."

"Yeah but I..."

"No buts. Just make sure you have them by Wednesday." she said with authority.

"I don't have money to buy all these. Give me at least what's needed to be paid for half of these." Koba demanded.

"Okay then." Sakura grumbled. She quickly took out a 500 ryo bill and handed it to Kiba. "I'll be off then. Ino's waiting for me downstairs."

And she took off after that, leaving Kiba in the library with the list of the things to buy.

"What a bossy girl. I can't believe I'm getting ordered like this by her." Kiba muttered to himself. Even though he didn't like it, this was for the sake of the project. Her attitude was different from the other nicer girls. Very different from Hinata. How he wished he was in Naruto's place right now. And thinking about it, what was going on with the two? Was Naruto going on as planned?

 _ **Naruto and Hinata**_

"So, when are we going to buy the materials? Do you want to go to the hardware store now?" Naruto asked his partner.

"No-now? I would want to but I uh..." Hinata began to reason out as she remembered that she didn't inform her father about this meeting with Naruto for a project after class. Her father, Hiashi Hyuuga was a very strict man. She needed to be home by an hour after class and the car, along with her personal driver Kō was definitely already waiting in the parking area. "I can't buy it right now. I haven't informed my father about the project and he'll be expecting me home by 4:30. It's already past 4."

"School curfew huh?"

"Sort of."

"Well that's okay. We can just go buy it together tomorrow or some other day this week."

'To-together.' Hinata repeated his word in her head..'I'm going to be together with Naruto-kun when we buy the materials for our project.'

"Hinata?" she heard Naruto callｏut to her with a tone of concern. It quickly shook her out of her thoughts.

"Ye-yes."

"Are you okay there?"

"Huh? Yes I, I'm fi-fine Naruto-kun."

"Are you sure? 'Cause for a moment there your face suddenly turned red. Do you have a fever?" Naruto asked and without a warning he placed the back of his hand on her forehead, effectively surprising Hinata and causing her to sit almost petrified at the touch. It made her face turn into an even brighter shade of red.

"Well you don't feel hot, so maybe not." Naruto concluded, finally retreating his hand from Hinata's forehead. "But now you're even more flushed."

"I.. I'm fine Naruto-kun. I gotta..."

"Hinata, I've been looking for you. We need to go home now if we don't want your faher to..." a voice suddenly sounded from behind the two of them, causing both to turn their heads to the source. While Naruto didn't recognize the voice, Hinata did because it was none other than her cousin Neji, who was a year older than her.

"Neji-niisan." she called out his name. Neji Hyuuga was no doubt a Hyuuga, with those same unmistakable pale eyes that Hinata also has. His hair was a long dark brown tied in a pony tail that reached down until his lower back.

"I see you were talking with a...wait a minute, I recognize you." Neji said, looking at Naruto. "You're the infamous troublemaker from the junior grade. What's your name again? Naturo?"

"It's Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki." the blond spoke up, annoyed that the cocky sounding newcomer got his name wrong. He didn't even notice that Neji just called him an 'infamous troublemaker'. "And you are?"

"I'm Neji Hyuuga, a senior. I'm here to pick up my cousin."

"Wait, you have a cousin here?" Naruto asked Hinata with surprise. Kiba never told him Hinata had an older cousin in the school.

"Yes. Neji is my cousin. And with what I was telling you a while ago, I really need to go now." Hinata said sadly, standing up from the bench and taking her bag.

"You know Hinata, you really shouldn't be associating yourself with troublemaking students like him. Uncle Hiashi wouldn't like it."

"What'd you say?!" Naruto then stood up, this time catching what Neji has said and not liking it in the least.

"Neji-niisan." Hinata called out to him ｗith a pleading look, silently asking for him to stop his insult. She didn't want anyone calling Naruto that. It might technically be true but still, he didn't have to say it so frankly and demeaning. "Naruto is my partner for our Physics project, that's why we're here. We're talking about what to do with it and the materials we need to get."

"Hn, if you say so." Neji then took Hinata's word. If she said he was her partner, then he probably was. He couldn't do anything about it even though he thought that Naruto would be a bad influence for Hinata. After thinking for a few seconds, he turned to look at Naruto. "Just don't go dragging Hinata's grades down. Do that and you'll be answering to me."

"Ha, I would never drag her grades down." Naruto growled at Neji, a part of him itching to land a punch at the older Hyuuga. He hated it when other people look down on him and think that he's stupid. He might not be the sharpest tool in the box but come on, he still pass all his subjects.

"Hn." Neji just smirked, slightly amused at the irritated display of Naruto. "Come Hinata, Kō is waiting for us."

"Bye Naruto-kun. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow."

Naruto watched as Hinata walked away with Neji. Well that was something new he learned ａbout Hinata, but maybe Kiba has known this before because he's the one interested in the girl.

He picked up his backpack and thought about going home. He and Kiba never did talk about meeting up after and he thought that he would get more things done with Hinata, or at least take more time. He was really surprised that she already finished designing the project so that meant less time to talk with her and less info to give to Kiba.

Sighing he turned towards the school entrance and began to walk until he heard Kiba call out to him.

"Hey Naruto, wait up!"

Kiba jogged to his buddy who was surprised to him.

"So you're done too?" Kiba first asked.

"I could ask you the same thing. But yeah, I suppose we're done for today cause Hinata's cousin had to pick her up."

"Oh, Neji? Is he still overprotective?"

"Well, that's probably the word to describe him, and a jerk too. How come I've never heard of him before?"

"He doesn't socialize much and he's from a higher grade. Anyway, yeah I'm also done for the day. I shouldn't even be surprised but Sakura's already planned the entire project and left me with the job to buy the materials. She wouldn't even accompany me in obtaining them." he halfly complained.

"Oh, so you didn't get any info on her?" Naruto grimly asked.

"Not yet although I don't think she's one who'll just talk about stuff like that. She looks so focused on school work and she probably wouldn't want any distractions once we start with building the project."

"Well, it's only the second time you met so, there's still time." Naruto told Kiba, but actually more to assure himself. If Sakura won't talk just as Kiba thought, there could still be ways to take advantage of them being assigned as partner's to each other's crushes.

"So how was it with Hinata, aside from the run in with Neji?"

"Well if you're not much surprised that Sakura-chan already did the plans then I gotta say I was when Hinata showed me what she designed. I didn't get much of it but I know she's made something good. We're just supposed to buy materials but we haven't decided when yet cause Neji butt in."

"Hmm, not much progress on our second objectives too. But as you said, we still got more days. Maybe we can even work together, the four of us."

"The four of us?"

"Like work separately on our own projects but in the same area, like your place or mine." Kiba clarified.

"Hmm, I like that. I'd get to see Sakura-chan work. Oh wait, I got a better idea."

"Better idea? Since when did you have a better idea than me?"

"Oh shut up. You'll love this. What if you set a time and place where you and Sakura-chan would work on the project and then you'd make up an excuse where you wouldn't be able to come and you'd send me as a substitute? Isn't that great?" Naruto asked excitedly. His plan made Kiba pause for a moment to think. He had to admit that was a good idea but whether they can pull it off, especially on Sakura was the question. Kiba didn't really think Sakura would want Naruto as his substitute.

"That does sound good. And maybe I can substitute for you when you work with Hinata."

"Yeah, although we probably can't do it the first time, I still think it's a good back up plan." Naruto said and Kiba agreed. The Inuzuka checked the time and saw it to be nearly half past 4.

"Anyway, I should probably check out the hardware store and see what I can get. Sakura really wants to get this over with as soon as possible. You wanna come with me?"

"Oh, I'll pass today. Mom asked me to do groceries today so I should be heading home." Naruto informed.

"Well, see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah. See you Kiba."

A/N:

I am disappointed with myself. Three weeks for this chapter when I know how I wanted it to go but lacking the drive to type it up. How do I get the motivation?

I don't know if it would do any good but yesterday was the official start of my summer vacation so no work for me until means lots of free time but then again, I need motivation to write. I just hope things turn out for the best and I finish this story by the end of vacation.

And congrats to the Golden State Warriors for winning Game 1. I hope they win the series and KD gets his ring.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was Tuesday afternoon and the bell for the last class has already rung. Just like what happened the day before, Naruto accompanied Hinata to her locker while he too stored his academic materials that didn't need to be brought home. Once they were done, they walked towards the exit of the school building as they talked about what phase of the project they were going to do for the rest of the afternoon.

"So, for today we're just gonna buy the stuff for the project right?" Naruto asked.

"Ye-yes. I've already asked permission from my father and he agreed as long as Kō will be there to drive us to the store." Hinata informed. The name Kō rung a bell to Naruto, remembering that it was the same person who Hinata's cousin Neji mentioned to them yesterday.

"Drive us? But it's just 2 blocks away."

"I know but my father is really protective of me. That's why he always has Kō bring me to and take me home from school. And when I need to go somewhere, he's always there to watch over me."

"So he's like a bodyguard?"

"Sort of."

"Okay then, just as long as he doesn't follow us around while we buy the stuff. That's just too uncomfortable for me." Naruto said with a shiver. He never thought rich people really had bodyguards for their children. He thought that it was all just stuff they do in the movies.

"Don't worry. He'll stay in the parking area." Hinata assured him with a light chuckle.

"Is your cousin going to join us?"

"Oh Neji? No, he's not. He also has other school stuff to attend to this afternoon."

"Phew, that's a relief. I seriously don't want him breathing around my neck, no offense."

"None taken."

The two continued to walk towards the school's parking where Kō was already waiting for them. Kō opened the door of the black expensive looking car for them and they went in. Once seeing that his two passengers were all buckled up, he immediately drove for the hardware store.

The ride was fairly silent as Hinata was overwhelmed with shyness at how she was sitting close next to her crush. Naruto on the other hand was busy rechecking the list of materials to buy that he has kept in his phone and he texted Kiba that they were already heading for the store onboard Hinata's ride.

Hinata heard Naruto chuckle, noticing that it was from a text he read. She didn't know that it was Kiba who replied to Naruto about how jealous he was right now. And of course, she didn't have the courage to ask 'cause it wasn't like she was close friends with Naruto. In the back of her mind, there's a lot of part that believes Naruto was being nice and friendly towards her just because it was in his nature and also because of the project. She didn't want to appear intrusive.

When they reached the store, the two of them went straight in. Like Hinata promised, Kō didn't follow them in and it was a relief to Naruto. If Kō followed him around, he would feel like Kō was sent by Hinata's father to look out for her, to protect her from a possible bad influence guy who wants to try to get a date with her. And it wasn't like Naruto had any interest in Hinata in the firsf place. That was Kiba of course.

Remembering Kiba, he gave out a sigh. His other task was to find out things that Hinata likes and here he was with her again with the opportunities to ask her and yet he didn't have a clue how to start. They were supposed to be buying materials so how would he bring up things irrelevant to their project anyway?

 ** _What snacks does she like?_**

 ** _What music does she listen too?_**

 ** _What things does she do during her free time?_**

And the more direct ones that Kiba really wants to know.

 ** _Does she like someone?_**

 ** _What's the real reason why she wouldn't want to go on a date with Kiba?_**

The brunet wanted Naruto to find out about this because like what Naruto has being trying with Sakura, the brunet has also tried to ask Hinata out many times but she always said that she can't and that she wasn't interested in dating during high school. Kiba didn't want to believe that was the only reason. Hinata never really told Kiba that she didn't like him or that she was already interested in someone and that was why he wasn't losing any hope. So right now it was somehow Naruto's job now to find out why without making it sound too direct and rude.

But how was Naruto going to ask her about that? He couldn't just ask her, 'Hey Hinata, why aren't you dating anyone?', or 'Is there a boy you like?'. Hah, Hinata might even think it was Naruto who was interested in her and he definitely didn't want to give that impression. Hinata was cute but Sakura was his dream girl. Not to mention Kiba already has the dibs on her.

"Naruto-kun? Naruto-kun?"

"Oh, huh?" Naruto turned to look at Hinata, confused.

"You look like you were busy thinking about something. I'm sorry if I..." Hinata started to apologize in panic but was cut-off by Naruto.

"No, no. Don't be. I was just thinking about... uhm..." Thinking about how to ask you all those things Kiba wants to know. Yeah, like he'd ever tell her that. "...thinking about the stuff we need to buy. Hehe. Come on. Let's pick the light bulbs we've talked about."

"Oh, okay." Hinata agreed but looked at Naruto curiously as for that instance, he somewhat looked nervous.

"This way. I've been around this store before so I know where we can find those things."

Naruto confidently led the way with Hinata following him. Once they reached the shelves containing the small light bulbs, they talked about what colors they were going to use. Hinata didn't indicate any color in her design and because of Naruto's more eccentric style, he suggested to pick out a few orange, blue and white bulbs. He told Hinata about an idea he just thought up upon seeing the different colors of bulbs available and after hearing it, Hinata agreed excitedly.

As for Naruto's idea? He wanted to make a ramen shop sign. Hinata's already explained to him the objectives of the project and he figured, why just stick to plain and boring design when they could make something fun? He thought that maybe he could even offer it to Teuchi, the owner of the Ichiraku ramen stand that Naruto loves to visit and maybe he can get free ramen for a month in exchange for the sign they will make.

After picking out the light bulbs, they searched for the electric wire to use. Naruto picked out a black coated one with only the necessary thickness and length for the bulbs they chose. The bulbs were barely even the size of a thumb so the wire didn't have to be as thick as those found in the home circuit. They also picked up the same number of sockets for the bulbs, small switches according to the number in Hinata's design and 8 AA batteries.

"We just need some kind of board to place the entire circuit." Hinata said after checking the items they've already gathered.

"Oh that. I think we don't need to buy that 'cause we have a lot of scrap wood in the shack on our backyard. Dad likes to do house renovation stuffs himself so we have extra materials." Naruto informed. "If you want we can do the project at my place so that we don't have to worry about bringing the board to school."

"Yo-your place?" Hinata repeated, stuttering once again after not doing so in front of Naruto the entire time they were picking up the materials. After all, it wasn't every day your crush asks you to come over his place.

"Yeah. Our house may not be as grand as the mansion you live in, at least that's what Kiba told me but I can say it's more than average house."

"I would love to but I..." Hinata's face then turned into a frown. "I don't think my father will let me. He's very strict and he wants me home very early after school."

"But it's a school project. It's not like you're going out to the mall to watch some movies or play arcade. If Kō drives you there and waits for you..." Naruto suggested.

"Well, maybe. I'm going to have to ask permission first. I have a feeling he might not let me. He'll probably ask that you be the one to come over."

"I suppose that's okay too. We do have to meet up to make this project. I know how to attach these things but I admit I don't get a thing about Mr. Sarutobi's lecture. You gotta tell me which wires go to which bulbs and switches."

"I'm sure we'll be able to work it out."

"Glad to hear your enthusiasm Hinata. Come, we should head to the counter to pay for these." Naruto said. Hinata nodded and they made their way back to the entrance where the cashier was located. Hinata was carrying the basket which held the light bulbs while Naruto carried the other one containing the other materials. They didn't want to accidentally break the bulbs so they separated them as precaution.

This effort however was proven in vain when Hinata unexpectedly slipped over something on the floor, making her yelp out in surprise and fall forward, losing her grip on the basket in reflex to hold out her hands forward to help break her incoming fall.

A shout of Hinata's name was heard, along with two thuds but neither was of Hinata. Naruto was luckily quick enough to react and was able to grab Hinata and prevent her from a painful fall.

"I got you." Naruto sighed out in relief after being able to catch Hinata just in time.

"Uh… huh... Na- naruto-kun..." He then heard Hinata whimper with a sound of fear which was mixed with embarrassment. Then he realized as he looked at Hinata that he was holding on to something very soft and squishy. Out of curiosity he gave them a light squeeze and that was when it hit him on what he was holding in his hands and why Hinata was calling out to him like that.

Faster than a lightning strike he withdrew his hands away with a shriek of surprise and a heavy blush on his face. He just freaking groped a girl in her boobs!

"Oh my god, Hinata I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it I swe-" Naruto tried to apologize in utter panic but was cut-off with a voice the two heard from across the aisle

"What's going on here?" The two turned around to see that it was an employee of the store and not just a regular employee at that. She was the manager.

"It was on accident I swear!" Naruto defended himself in response, afraid of the possibility that the manager just saw him holding Hinata in that way.

"Your stuff are scattered on the ground. What happened?" the manager asked with more worry than the accusation Naruto expected.

"Hinata slipped and I tried to catch her. I swear that was my only intention." Naruto once again reasoned out in defense. "She slipped over there."

Upon pointing at the approximate area where Hinata lost her balance, he saw a puddle of water with the mark of Hinata's feet sliding over it towards their direction.

"Oh my, we're so sorry. Are any of you two hurt?" the manager asked in alarm as she saw the wet part of the floor and quickly went to them.

"Are you okay Hinata?" Naruto this time asked.

"I guess so. You did ca-... catch me after all." she answered with a great blush, remembering midsentence on exactly how Naruto, her crush caught her.

"Oh ye-yeah. I'm glad you're okay." Naruto sighed in relief.

"I'm afraid the same does not go with the light bulbs." Hinata said and the three of them looked at the mess on the floor caused by the two baskets falling. After all, Naruto had to let go of his own basket to be able to catch Hinata.

"Oh please don't worry about this mess. We're truly sorry miss that you almost fell on the floor because of my negligence." the manager apologized with utter sincerity.

"It's okay. I wasn't hurt so I suppose it's good."

"Again I do apologize. Please, let our staff take care of this mess and we'll assist you in getting replacements for the things you've picked out."

"Oh, well then, I suppose that's okay." Naruto agreed. It probably was for the best to just go along with what the manager has suggested. It would let his mind off the fact that he had just accidentally, yes 'accidentally' placed his hands over Hinata's boobs. And boy was he surprised about how big they were. So that was what she has been hiding all along in her baggy clothes?

'Ah, Naruto you gotta stop thinking about her boobs!' the blond screamed to himself.

He took in a deep breathe to reset his thoughts and soon he and Hinata followed a male employee to help them pick up the things they need again.

Once they were done picking up the materials they need, they went straight for the cashier. The manager was there to meet them and offered them a 50% discount for all the stuff they will buy in order to make up for the accident. As it turned out, there was apparently a malfunctioning air conditioner above that area which was the cause of the puddle in the aisle. It was the first time it malfunctioned that was why the store wasn't aware of water dripping from it.

The two then went out of the store where they found Kō standing next to the car. Naruto was carrying the box containing the materials and the two quickly took the backseat. It was already past 4:30 and Hinata had to go home soon because of her father's strict curfew hour for her daughter.

"Naruto-kun, Kō asks for your home address so he can drop you off." Hinata asked.

"Oh, right. It's just on #30 Arashi Street." Naruto answered which Kō heard and they drove off without wasting any more time.

"We haven't decided yet where we're gonna build the project." Hinata reminded them as she looked at Naruto. The blond however due to the earlier 'incident' could on barely look Hinata directly, in his mind thoughts of what a perv he must have been to Hinata.

"I'm okay with any of our own places. You said you're gonna ask your father right? Let's just wait for that."

"I will. But who will bring these materials home?"

"I'll keep it for us. I don't want to trouble you for carrying such heavy and fragile stuff around." Naruto replied. "I'll just bring it to school in case we decide to do it at your place, okay?"

"But won't it be a trouble for you if you have to carry it to school. I heard you usually just walk to school with Kiba." Hinata asked with concern.

"No big deal. My dad can give me a ride in that case."

"Oh. Okay then. Thank you."

After a few minutes the ride was over as they reached Naruto's place. The blond got off the car carrying the box and bid a goodbye to Hinata, the girl doing the same. As soon as the car was out of sight, Naruto walked up the porch and rang the doorbell. In a few seconds it was opened for him by her cousin Karin. She was technically her cousin but Karin has been adopted by Naruto's parents after her parents have been killed in a car accident almost 10 years ago. This in paper made Karin as Naruto's sister.

"You're quite late going home today. Played at the arcade with Kiba again?" the redheaded Uzumaki asked.

"Not really. I went to the hardware store with Hinata." Naruto said as he went inside. "Here are the materials we bought."

Karin looked at the box Naruto was carrying. "I'm surprised. Usually you don't do your projects till the last day. At least this time you won't be begging me for help when you're out of time."

"It's a pair project. I don't wanna be the reason Hinata's grades go down. She's in the top 5 of the class and her cousin Neji would kill me." Naruto reasoned out, gulping at the end upon the thought of what Neji might do to him.

"I see. Well it's not only you who's already started with that project." Karin smirked and then all of a sudden looked excited. "Sasuke-kun is actually in the dining room and we're already preparing the board where we'll attach the circuit. He's already bought the materials during the weekend, can you believe that?"

"Sasuke's here?" Naruto asked shocked. Their top student who happened to be his rival for Sakura-chan. The guy that Sakura-chan's always talking about.

"Yes, so don't do anything stupid. I don't want to look bad in front of Sasuke-kun."

Naruto then got reminded that not only was Sakura in love with the emo duck-butt haired bastard, yes, that's what he's calling him, but his sister also has a huge crush on him. Naruro couldn't even count on his two hands the number of girls at school who's crushing at this guy.

"As if. And by the way, is mom, dad or Kurama-niisan home?"

"Not yet. The house was empty when I got here."

"Oh, so you're bringing a boy home while our parents are out. Just don't go having sex in this house or do anything funny." Naruto joked at her but otherwise it irked Karin.

"I am not gonna… ughh I can't believe you think I'm that kind of a person." the redhead said shaking her head.

"I was just kidding." Naruto chuckled at his sister's reaction. "But sis, just don't."

"Ugh. I don't wanna hear any more from you. I'm gonna back to Sasuke-kun." she said as she stormed away from Naruto's direction.

"Okay, I'll just go to my room and leave you two alone." announced the blond to his walking-off sister. He took off his shoes and headed for the stairs. After all he didn't want to be interacting with Sasuke.

However that thought changed when his stomach growled. He was hungry and the only place he could get some food was in the dining room. Sighing, he changed directions and went inside the dining room where he saw Sasuke and Karin drawing some complicated figures on a piece of plywood on top of the dining table.

He ignored Sasuke and went for the refrigerator where he took out a cheese spread and a box of orange juice. However he could see from his side vision that Sasuke was watching him with a smirk on his lips. He did his best again to ignore that as he pulled out bread from the cupboard and prepared himself 3 servings of sandwich. He placed them on a saucer and poured himself a glass of the orange juice. Without saying a word to the two he tried to leave the dining room but was stopped when Sasuke spoke.

"It would be nice if you prepare some snacks for your guest too, dobe." the raven said smugly.

"What did you say?" Naruto turned to look at Sasuke with an annoyed expression.

"Hn." Sasuke didn't reply and just chuckled at Naruto's reaction. The blond had always been easy to rile up and that was why he liked to pick on him.

"I just got home bastard. Karin can make you your damn sandwiches." Naruto retorted, the skin below his right eye scrunching up in irritation. He quickly walked away from the dining room and to his room upstairs. Karin on the other hand couldn't help but laugh softly at her brother's display. That was enough payback for what he said to her a few moments ago even though she wasn't the one to cause it.

"So uhm, Sasuke-kun. Do you want something to eat?" the redhead then asked. She mentally slapped herself for not thinking about preparing something to eat for Sasuke as soon as they arrived home for the project.

"If you don't mind." the raven answered.

A/N: Sorry. I had to cut it there. 4 weeks of no update, what a way to ruin my reputation to the readers. I got caught up in writing a KibaNaruHina full-way threesome and that was why I couldn't work on this story until I finished that. The one-shot's title is 'The Three of Us' and you can check it out on my profile if you want. I'll just warn that it contains both straight and yaoi lemon scenes.

Anyway, I wanna ask about that Naruto accidentally grabbing hold of Hinata's boobs. What do you think of it? And also about making Karin as Naruto's sister. Just tell me your thoughts in a review. They're highly appreciated and motivating (and I really need motivation, even inspiration to continue this story).

I also want to recommend this NaruHina story. It's a 3 chapter story with a lemon of Naruto and Hinata's first time of intimateness as a married couple. It's very descriptive and true to character. It's not rushed and takes into account what Hinata's true reactions could be into doing that with Naruto.

Author's Name: gen519

Story Title: Their First Night

I.D.: s/11988176/1/Their-First-Night


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

When Naruto got upstairs he went straight for his room, although having difficulty opening the door since he was carrying a glass of juice on one hand and the sandwiches on the other. Once he got in he placed the snacks down on the nightstand, let his bag down and changed into more comfortable clothes.

He turned on the small TV in his room and switched the channel to basketball where the Celtics were playing against the 76ers in the summer league. He ate his snack as he watched the newly drafted players show off their skills. After nearly an hour of watching the game, Naruto's phone rang up and due to the set special ringtone he immediately knew who it was. Kiba.

The first thought that came to mind was Hinata and about the 'incident'. Kiba was no doubt gonna kill him if he learned about what happened and that was why he was never going to tell his best friend about it. It was on accident.

" **Hey Naruto."** the brunet's voice sounded from the phone's speaker.

"Hi-hi Kiba." Naruto greeted back but couldn't control the stutter due to his slight nervousness.

" **I just got home from Sakura's place. We just finished our task for the day over 15 minutes ago, can you believe it? It's already past 6. She really wants this project done ASAP. I think we might even be done by the day after tomorrow if she pushes it."**

"Wait, you were at Sakura-chan's place?" Naruto asked surprised, and of course a bit jealous. He couldn't believe Sakura invited Kiba over just like that.

" **Yeah. She said it was better if I came over to work there. Her mom's home and we did the project in the living room. Anyway, I really tried making conversation with her but she's too focused on doing the project. I wasn't able to find out about the stuff you wanna know although I did hear her mom complaining to her about how much anmitsu(1) she was eating at home."**

"Anmitsu? The sweet jelly dessert?" Naruto asked. If memory served him right he's had one of those before when his mother brought some home.

" **Yeah, and I saw her mom taking out a plastic bag containing packs of it. It's the one they sell at the convenience store near the school."**

"Well that's great. Now I at least know about something that Sakura-chan likes. Thanks Kiba."

" **Anyway, how was it with Hinata?"** And then it was Kiba's turn to ask about his person of interest. Naruto felt his heart give a sudden kick at that. Every time he was made to think of her he just couldn't stop his mind from replaying the earlier 'incident'.

"Oh that… uhm…we've finished our task for the day over an hour ago. We didn't really do much as we only bought our stuffs. We haven't started actually making the project."

" **At least you two are taking this easy. Sakura won't give me a breather. Hopefully she'd be less strict tomorrow. So, you got any info?"**

"Er, not really. I mean, do you know she has this driver slash bodyguard named Kō?" Naruto said even though he thought that Kiba might already know of it.

" **Yeah I already know that."** And he was proven right.

"I thought so. You certainly couldn't walk her home or something like that. How about her father wanting her to be home by 4:30 in the afternoon?"

" **Hm, that's the first time I've heard of that. Well that's a start. I'm sure you'll be able to find out more when you start working tomorrow. Are you working on your place or hers?"**

"We haven't really decided yet. She still has to ask permission from her father."

" **In that case, if ever you decide to do it at your place, make sure to invite me. Maybe I can help you guys out."**

"Yeah… sure."

" **Anyway, I just remembered. You might not believe this but when Sakura and I was at the school's front gate we saw Sasuke and your cousin Karin walking together. Sakura was glaring daggers at Karin while your cousin winked at her sinisterly. She's so savage man. Sakura was cursing quietly about how she was gonna kill her."**

"Oh, I see." Naruto replied sadly. Once again he was reminded of that it was the bastard that Sakura likes. She's liked him for as long as Naruto liked her and that was way back middle school. "Well, Sasuke and Karin are actually down in the dining room working on the project when I came home. I don't know though if the bastard's left already. I'm here in my room watching basketball."

" **Really? Sasuke's at your place? I didn't expect that but hey, remember what I told you last week? If you can get Sasuke to date your cousin then Sakura might actually agree to go out with you. She's too obsessed with him for you to be able to ask her out right now."**

"So I'm just gonna be the second option?"

" **Well what do you expect? You've been trying to ask her out for more than a year already. If she loses interest in Sasuke, it might get your chances up."**

"But Karin dating the bastard? I know how much she likes him but I don't like Sasuke. He's such an arrogant bastard. Just a while ago he was on freaking asshole mode to me when I went to get sandwiches in the dining room." Naruto complained.

" **You're not the one who's gonna date duckbutt."**

"Yeah I know but come on, I wouldn't want my sister to date someone like him, even if she likes him."

" **Hmm, I didn't know you care for your cousin slash sister that much. You two can be like cat and mouse a lot of times and I rarely see you talk at school."**

"Sh-shut up Kiba. I don't…"

" **Hahaha. You're getting embarrassed about caring for her. Ah, how sweet."**

"I told you to shut it Kiba."

" **Okay, okay. Well, that was just a suggestion. If you don't want to follow it, fine. Anyway I still have to do that Maths homework. Anything else you wanna tell me?"** And then there was that question.

"Uh, nothing. Nothing." Naruto said in a bit of panic.

" **You sure? I'll see you tomorrow then."**

"Yeah, see yah dogbreath."

And Naruto pressed the 'end call' button and let himself flop on the bed, arms spread out wide.

"Man, I don't really think this plan of ours would work." he said out loud with a sigh. The idea of them finding out things about each other's crushes sounded good at first but putting it in action was a whole other thing. Kiba found out something about Sakura though and it was putting pressure against him about giving Kiba something worth telling back.

Then again it was still too early. He's only been with Hinata three times and they didn't really have much time to talk about random stuff. Maybe tomorrow when they actually start doing the project it would be easier to slide in some questions.

And then there was still the other plan involving Karin. He of course knew how much his sister liked the Uchiha but what about the bastard? He's never seen him show interest in a girl before nor hang out with one, well unless it was for school work. It was such a surprise that he agreed to build their project here in his house. How the heck did his sister even manage to make him come here? Karin usually complains about Sasuke being always so stuck-up. Maybe he likes her?

Well that sounded far-fetched but then again who knows? If Kiba made sense about his reasoning maybe he might really up his chances with Sakura if she sees Sasuke's dating another girl.

Then he thought about the anmitsu Kiba mentioned. He made a note to himself to think about what to do with that info later and also about the Maths homework he almost forgot. He sat up to find the remote so he could turn off the TV, remembering that his parents might even be home already as it was nearly 7 PM. As he pressed the 'off' button, he heard the notification sound from his phone.

He took it and was surprised to see Hinata's name on the screen. She's sent him a text message. He remembered that they exchanged numbers just this afternoon before they even went out of the school. And that reminded him about Kiba. He would definitely want to have Hinata's number.

But then again, wasn't it wrong for him to just share it to Kiba like that without Hinata's permission? He didn't take long in making a decision and that no, he wasn't going to give it to Kiba. He unlocked his phone and pressed on the message.

 ** _Good evening Naruto-kun. It's about the project. I've already asked my father on where we can work. Like I've told you, he won't allow me to go over at your place. He said that you can come over and we'll just make the project here at my place and Kō can drive you home after. Is it okay with you?_**

After reading the message, Naruto couldn't say he was surprised. Hinata already has a sort of bodyguard so there was no way an overprotective father like Hinata's was going to let a girl go work at another boy's place especially when there wasn't an adult around. But come on, it wasn't like Naruto was going to do anything to Hinata.

Then the incident of him squeezing Hinata's boobs flashed in his mind.

'Arghh, why won't you leave my head?' Naruto thought in frustration. He wasn't a pervert and that was an accident. He would never consciously think about or do that to a girl, especially one as innocent and angelic as Hinata. He texted back a reply telling Hinata that he got the message and that he was okay working at her place.

"NARUTO!" he then heard a call of his name from downstairs and it could only be his mom. "I've brought home ramen!"

"RAMEN?" Naruto stood up in a blink of an eye upon hearing that word. He quickly got out of his room and ran downstairs, forgetting about all the thoughts plaguing his mind at the moment. Well at least for that time.

…

The next day found Naruto in a great hurry. He was hit with an idea yesterday after dinner thanks to Kiba telling him that Sakura liked anmitsus and as soon as the bell signaling the end of the last period rang, Naruto went up to Hinata and told her to wait for him at the lockers while he took care of something quick. Kiba was already told of the plan during lunch and he was just supposed to wait for Naruto to come back to school after buying anmitsus from the convenience store in front of the school.

The blond ran as fast as he could knowing that Sakura wouldn't want to wait long before she and Kiba start walking to her place. As soon as he was at the store, he searched for the anmitsus and was lucky to find there were still two cups of it. Kiba could have one as a 'thank you' for doing this favor for him. Walking towards the cashier, he saw bread rolls on one of the shelves and thought that maybe he should bring something to eat at Hinata's too. He took four of those bread which was covered in white glaze as it was the one that looked sweeter and tastier than the others. It was already sealed in plastic so he just grabbed them in haste.

After paying for the items, he again ran as fast as he could back to the school carrying two plastic bags, one containing the two cups of anmitsus and the other one containing the bread. He searched the halls for Kiba and was lucky to find him in no time.

"That was really quick." Kiba remarked, looking at Naruto who was heavily catching his breath after the sprint from the store. Sweat was dripping over his disheveled looking face. Naruto handed him the bag containing the anmitsus.

"Here... they're the best... I could find." Naruto said in between breaths. "You know what to do."

"Yeah, I got this." Kiba assured him.

"Thanks Kiba. You can have... one of the anmitsus. Anyway, I... gotta go. Hinata's waiting for me."

"Okay. Tell Hinata I said hi."

"Will do." And Naruto waved a goodbye to his friend and searched the halls for Hinata. Just as he instructed her, she was there waiting by his locker.

"Hey Hinata. I hope I didn't make you wait too long."

"No you didn't." she replied with a smile. She wondered why Naruto was sweating all over though.

"Let me just get the board and other materials from my locker and we can go to your place."

"Okay."

...

 **At Sakura's**

"You know, we shouldn't really be trying to finish this project this week." Kiba randomly commented as he busily peeled the ends of the wires he's previously cut.

"And why is that?" Sakura then asked, also occupied with a task of her own.

"Because I don't wanna be staying up here until 6 for three days straight. Can't we just finish this up next week?"

"But why'd you want to postpone it for next week? It's better to get this over with sooner. Besides we might even get this done tomorrow or by Friday."

"But I have games to finish and animes to watch." Kiba mumbled softly in complaint but Sakura heard it.

"You're not the only one who has shows they wanna watch. I just like getting things over with instead of cramming at the last minute, which I'm sure someone like you often does."

"I do not…" the brunet tried to deny but then again Sakura was right. He could be a crammer most of the time. "... well okay, I do but I still get things done on time."

"And we'll finish this faster if we stop yapping and focus more on doing." Sakura insisted. She was screwing the light bulbs they have on the sockets because that was the easier thing to do. Kiba was already getting bored removing the wire coatings to expose the copper wires for like the fiftieth time already. The wire was thin because it was just for a small circuit and therefore it was very difficult to peel the coating off without accidentally cutting the entire wire. Unfortunately cutting it all the way through was happening more than just peeling it much to his frustration.

"Arghh, damn it!" Kiba groaned in great irritation when he cut all the way through again, throwing the pliers hard down the table. "I hate doing this stuff! I need a break."

"You need to control the pliers more." Sakura remarked.

"Then why don't you do it while I screw the sockets to the board." Kiba replied, trying his best not to sound sarcastic but failed. Sakura just rolled her eyes at him and took the pliers from the table and surprisingly did the peeling of the ends of the wires.

Kiba let himself lay back on the chair to rest. Aside from the project, he hasn't really made much progress on the interrogation stuff he was supposed to be doing. It was his plan but right now it didn't look like it would work. Even if he did manage to learn a few things about Sakura, it wasn't like she would then instantly agree to go out with Naruto.

He thought about other things he could do and then that's when he remembered the thing Naruto's asked him to do. He almost forgot about it but hopefully it would work.

"Hey Sakura." he called for her attention but she didn't look up to face him. She was after all intricately doing the task of peeling the wires and was realizing how hard it could be.

"I have something here we can eat."

"Oh, you're offering me food?" Sakura looked at her in doubt.

"Actually, it's from Naruto."

"Oh, him." Sakura said in a poorly concealed tone of chagrin. "If this is a way of him trying to get me to soften up to him, it won't work."

"Come on, you don't even know what he's brought for you yet." Kiba then pulled out from the plastic bag beside his chair two packs of the anmitsu that Naruto bought from the store.

"Is that...?" Sakura eyes widened at the sight of anmitsu. Despite her knowing it was from Naruto, she couldn't help her mouth from watering at the sweet dessert in front of her. That rainbow colored jelly topped with overflowing sugary red bean paste and a single cherry looked so enticingly delicious. "It's the special anmitsu from the Shouji(2) convenience store."

"I don't really know where he bought them," Kiba said, feigning innocence on knowing about the anmitsu. Inside though he was praising himself for the keen observation he made the day before. "He just said to give one to you and hope that you enjoy it while we work on our project. Or you can have them both if you want."

"I shou-," Sakura looked at it debatingly. From all of the things Naruto could give her, why did it have to be her favorite dessert? It was impossible to refuse yet she didn't want to make it look like she was interested in the blond by taking the anmitsu he had Kiba sent to her. But in the end she caved in.

"I'll take one." she softly told Kiba. The brunet just smirked. Not even Sakura's pride stood chance to the anmitsu.

"So am I gonna tell Naruto you said 'thanks'?" Kiba said in a teasing tone.

"Wh-what?" Sakura looked at Kiba shocked.

"This is probably the first time you received something from him. He tells me you always refuse when he offers you something."

"It's because I don't want to give him the wrong idea. I know I refuse whenever he gives or offers me something and I turn him down when he asks me out but it's because I don't want to lead him on." Sakura confessed and Kiba knew she was being honest with it. He was surprised to hear that though. He thought Sakura really just didn't give a squat to Naruto but to learn that she actually thinks about it that way changed a bit of his perception about the girl.

He stayed silent for a while, thinking about how to further the conversation. He's managed to open up the topic of Naruto and he had the perfect chance to see if he could get her to date Naruto or if any effort from the blond would just be a waste. Sakura on the other hand took one of the anmitsu, opened it and began to eat it. Her face showed utter approval of the dessert.

"Oh, this is so good." she squealed out like a fangirl.

"So, you really won't go out with Naruto? You never know but you might actually enjoy it."

"Kiba, I am not gonna go out with your best friend." Sakura replied firmly. "It's not that I hate him, even though he can be annoying most of the time. He's just not my type so don't try convincing me otherwise. He's not Sasuke-kun."

Kiba frowned upon hearing that. He had a feeling she'd tell him something like that. It's also what he's been telling Naruto the entire time. She's just too obsessed with Sasuke. It made him feel bad for Naruto because somehow he feels that Hinata thinks of him the same way.

He sighed and thought again if there was anything else he could do. He's already somewhat asked her directly if she'd go out with Naruto and she gave him the reason. There was still Sasuke and Karin story to tell her though.

"You know, I heard Sasuke has been doing his project with Karin at her house."

"WHAT?!" Sakura asked in alarm, spitting out some of the jelly she was chewing on and making bits of it land on the table and the project, one bit nearly grazing Kiba on the cheek as he did his best to dodge sideways.

"Whoa, calm down there."

"How can I be calm? My Sasuke-kun really went with her to her house?" she asked with fear.

"Yeah, she even made sandwiches for him." Kiba added, recalling what Naruto told him just earlier lunch.

"Made sandwiches? Who told you this?" she demanded.

"Naruto." Kiba answered as it if was obvious.

"Ugh, that redhead's gonna take away Sasuke-kun from me. I should have been the one paired up with him." she groaned.

"Come on, Sasuke doesn't even look like a guy who's willing to date a girl so why do you even bother?"

"Sasuke-kun's the perfect boy in our batch. Why are you even bringing this up? Are you jealous of him?"

"Huh, why would I be? I don't wanna be like that jerk who always acts like he has a stick up his ass. I'm way nicer to girls unlike him." Kiba defended.

"You don't know what you're saying." Sakura rolled her eyes at him.

"Maybe so, but if Sasuke ends up dating her, maybe you can give Naruto a chance."

"Kiba just stop. I'm not gonna do it." Sakura said resolutely. "And besides, Karin WON'T end up dating MY Sasuke-kun if I have anything to say about it."

A/N: And that's it for this chapter. Since last chapter already featured Naruto and Hinata, I focused on Kiba and Sakura this time. Don't be alarmed though 'cause there's definitely no KibaSaku in this story. By the way, **Happy Birthday Kiba-kun (July 7)**. I forgot about this which sucks 'cause he's my favorite character. If I just remembered this I would have written a one-shot for him. A KibaNaru most likely. I might write one and post it next week though.

There was a guest reviewer who told me they liked how I made Karin as Naruto's sister, the SasuKarin in the last chapter and that they ship the two. I don't know about it yet as I haven't decided if Sasuke will really end up dating Karin. Thanks for the feedback.

Next chapter will focus on Naruto and Hinata as they start making the project at Hinata's place, talk about things and maybe make Naruto see Hinata in a different light. Who knows what other 'incidents' could occur?

Keep me motivated guys and leave a review. You can also answer my question on whether I should write a NaruIno lemon one-shot. I have this idea but I don't know if it will appeal to my followers.

(1) Anmitsu (from Wiki) - It is made of small cubes of agar jelly, a white translucent jelly made from red algae. The agar is dissolved with water (or fruit juice such as apple juice) to make the jelly. It is served in a bowl with sweet azuki bean paste or _anko_ (the _an_ part of _anmitsu_ ), boiled peas, often _gyūhi_ and a variety of fruits such as peach slices, _mikan_ , pieces of pineapples, and cherries. The anmitsu usually comes with a small pot of sweet black syrup, or _mitsu_ (the _mitsu_ part of _anmitsu_ ) which one pours onto the jelly before eating. Anmitsu is usually eaten with a spoon and fork.

(2) Shouji is a name I came up with. It's a combination of the words 'small' and 'stop', just like Ministop, a convenience store in Japan.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

After getting the materials from Naruto's locker, he and Hinata went straight for the parking lot where Kō was already waiting. They placed the materials in the car's and trunk and once they were all set, Kō drove them to the Hyuuga estate which was north from the school. The school of course was near the center of the town but as they headed for Hinata's place, the houses in view became a lot fewer until there were only large trees surrounding the road.

"I've never been to this area of the town before." Naruto said as he watched the scenery through the car's window. It looked peaceful in some way and yet also a bit scary. He wouldn't even dare walk this road during the night.

"Oh, I suppose you haven't. This area is owned by our family." Hinata informed.

"OWNED BY YOUR FAMILY?" Naruto looked at her in shock. "But this area is so big."

"From that last house we saw a minute ago until our main estate and a little bit beyond that, it's owned by the Hyuuga clan."

"Wow. I didn't know the Hyuuga were this rich to own such a large piece of land."

"It's been passed from generations to generations since the last century. Land was a lot cheaper back then. And besides, it's not only my family who lives here. There are more than 20 households in the whole estate. We're all related to each other."

"I see. Oh look there's a house." Naruto pointed at the left side of the road where a two story wooden house with a white fence stood. "I never thought your clan really lived together. There really is no kidding when you say 'clan'. It's like living in the old days."

"I suppose."

The entire ride from the school took them nearly ten minutes before they were greeted by a 15-foot steel gate. Naruto could only conclude that this was where Hinata lived. From behind the gate was an old style Japanese house that probably had a floor area of their entire school. From his view he could even see a garden, a very beautiful one at that and it even had a small pond and a bridge over it. Almost everything looked so traditional. He made a mental note to ask Hinata later if he could walk around the garden.

Soon enough the gate was opened for them and Kō dropped them off at the front entrance of the main house where a young woman was waiting for them. Naruto didn't even have to ask to know she was a Hyuuga because of her pale eyes. She had short dark hair with a slight green tint and she wore a black kimono and a white maid's apron.

"Good afternoon Lady Hinata." she greeted her with a small bow then she turned to Naruto with a smile. "And you must be Naruto, my lady's project partner. My name is Natsu. I'll be accompanying you to the study room where you can work on your project."

"Uhm, hi." Naruto responded, lost for words due to his shock. It wasn't every day one visit's a millionaire's or even possibly a billionaire's household and be greeted by a maid, which he assumed her to be due to her clothing.

'Hinata really lives here? My classmate that I barely even talk to. The girl that Kiba likes. She lives in this place?' Naruto's mind was filled with those thoughts and suddenly he felt so out of place. Hinata wasn't even her friend and he was invited to step foot in her house.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata called him.

"Huh?" he looked at Hinata confused.

"We should get our things from the car's trunk."

"Oh that. Yeah, let's get them."

Kō helped them take out the materials from the trunk, especially the two 2 by 3 feet wooden boards that Naruto brought with him. It was a wonder how it fit in there and even in the locker at school. Natsu then led them inside the house and to the study room. The house was very traditional with its tatami mats, bonzais and ikebana decorations. The only reminders that they were living in the modern times were the TV, sound system and the AC

To the right of the living room was a hallway where Natsu led them into. It was open aired and one could appreciate the view of the garden and this made Naruto wonder what they do to protect the house when there were storms.

Natsu stopped at the second room which was the study room she mentioned and opened for them the sliding door. There was a low table in the middle and around 5 floor pillows were placed on a shelf on one side of the room. It also contained a decent number of books and a few office equipments such as pens, scissors, stapler, glue, etc. There was also a small sound system, probably used to play relaxing music when one wants to focus on studying or doing other things.

The flooring unlike in the living room did not have tatami but rather only wooden planks that appeared very well kept as they shone off the light from the ceiling above. The room was air conditioned too and Naruto couldn't expect any less. The Hyuuga had money to spare after all.

Naruto and Hinata placed their materials on the table while Natsu got two floor pillows for them to sit on.

"Would you like some snack and refreshments Lady Hinata?" Natsu asked.

"Yes Natsu. That would be appreciated." she replied then looked at Naruto. "Uhm, Naruto-kun. Do you have any preferences for drinks?"

"Oh that. Cold water would be fine but if you happen to have orange juice..." Naruto said, scratching his head shyly.

"Orange juice it is." Natsu then said and then she informed Hinata she would come back in a few minutes for them.

"So, should we start now?" Naruto asked excitedly. Ever since he thought about that ramen sign he couldn't wait to make the project. At first the electronic circuit that he couldn't understand made it seem like a chore to him but seeing that Hinata has already done the design, it made him a bit more enthusiastic about it.

"Of course. Although if it's okay..." Hinata once again began to ask Naruto in a shy manner. Even if she has met with him for the fourth time since the project was announced, her confidence was always fluctuating and a probable reason was that Naruto was here inside her home. The boy of her dreams was here alone with her. That thought alone made her face go red and it wasn't left unnoticed by Naruto who was looking at her curiously after she stopped talking.

"Hinata, is everything okay?"

"Huh? Ye-yes. I just wanna ask if it's okay if I change into more comfortable clothing. I know it's rude to leave a guest behind but..." she said as she twirled her forefingers around each other but Naruto cut her off before she could fully explain.

"It's okay Hinata." Naruto assured her. "I'll prep up the board and the materials while you change and we can start as soon as you ."

"A-are you sure it's okay if I leave you for a while?"

"Yeah Hinata, I'll be fine. Believe it." Naruto gave her a thumbs up with a very bright smile which made Hinata's heart flutter a bit. How she loved seeing that smile from Naruto. She excused herself and promised to be back soon.

Naruto on the other hand did as he said and laid out the board they were gonna place the circuit on. He brought out 2 pencils, a straight ruler and a measuring tape. Once he was done with those, the full realization that he was alone hit him. He scanned the room for details, not having much to do until Hinata comes back cause she was the one who knows more about the design.

After two minutes though he heard the door slide open and was utterly surprised by what he saw. Hinata was there but he almost had to take a second look because somehow she didn't look like Hinata.

Her face, eyes and long black-blue hair was the same but instead of her usual jacket covering up top, she was wearing a navy blue t-shirt that hugged the shape of her chest and trunk and dark blue pants that were just below her knees. And because of that Naruto couldn't help his eyes from shifting to her chest were her very gifted breasts were well outlined.

'They really are big, just like when I touched them. And damn, who would have thought she had an hourglass figure behind that jacket?' Naruto thought for a second before catching himself thinking such a perverted thing of Hinata. He quickly averted his gaze from her chest and waist and back to her face which was looking very nervous and tinting red.

"Hi-hinata, you're back." Naruto said nervously, afraid that Hinata might have caught him checking her out. And to think of it, that was probably the first time he looked at Hinata that way. But how could he help himself when it was rare to see Hinata dressed like that.

"I hope I didn't take too long." she said as she made her way inside. Naruto was sitting on one side of the table while the other floor cushion for her was on the other. She was about to sit down when Naruto suddenly asked a question from her.

"Hey I was thinking, maybe we should sit together." he suggested.

"Si-sit together?" Hinata repeated in surprise and shyness. Naruto wants to sit with her? For real?

"I mean, we're gonna draw the outline of the circuit first right? So if I sit on the other side of the table it would be hard for me to draw 'cause I would be looking at it upside down."

"I suppose so." Hinata replied without really telling Naruto she was okay with it but Naruto smiled at her and stood up, picking up his pillow and making his way around the table to sit on the right side of Hinata before she could even speak.

"There. Much better." Naruto didn't notice the effect this had on his partner. Hinata's chest was pounding like crazy. Naruto was only a few inches away from her, much closer than when they were seated together in the car ride.

"We sh-should start then." Hinata suggested. It was probably best if she focused on the task at hand in order to not be affected this much by Naruto.

"Just tell me what to do."

And so the two finally began the project. Hinata brought out the layout the she drew on a piece of bond paper detailed with the measurements and angles. Hinata was the first to draw the layout on the board while Naruto watched, not much confident in his skills. Sure he could draw some pretty decent doodles and even anime characters when he was bored at school but when it came to measurements and straight lines, it was just a little bit more difficult for him.

And while they were doing the project, it wasn't only Hinata that was feeling uneasy being so close to her crush. Naruto's gaze would sometimes linger for much longer at Hinata. Even he didn't know why he had urges to look at her even though the project was right in front of them and Hinata was at his side.

Sometimes too Hinata's right hand would brush against his left hand, creating awkward moments for the two of them. Naruto tried his best to ignore it though because this was Hinata and he shouldn't be feeling awkward and maybe a bit nervous around her.

If he did he could only blame it on that incident yesterday and further intensified by Hinata wearing such a snug t-shirt right now. He could see them if he looked sideways and damn did they look...

'No, no, no.' Naruto stopped himself mentally and looked away. 'You're being a pervert to Hinata. What if she catches you?' he told himself.

He was already sixteen and of course he had his hormones going every so often. He wasn't innocent about the sexual things and honestly, just like most teens he's fantasized about girls naked before, most especially Sakura.

But Hinata? That was like way off limits. Kiba would fucking kill him if he knew he was having thoughts about her that way. And Hinata was such an innocent angel. Yes, if he were to describe the girl, an angel would probably fit her.

His musing was interrupted when he heard two knocks on the door, a voice calling out to Hinata and it sliding open as Natsu appeared with a tray in hand. On top of it were chocolate bread rolls and two glasses of orange juice.

"Excuse me. Here are the snacks and refreshments." Natsu announced as she made her way towards the side of the table that was free of materials and placed the tray on it. It was nearer to Naruto's side.

"Thank you Natsu." said Hinata, with Naruto also saying it although a bit softer.

"If you need anything Lady Hinata, just call for me." she bowed lightly and then took her leave.

"Do they really always bow like that and call you Lady Hinata?" Naruto asked with a curious expression.

"Yes. Although I've told her and the others in the house that they can just call me by my name and not to bow but they insist. It's just been that way ever since I remember." Hinata explained shyly, worrying about what Naruto might think of her. She didn't want to look like a pampered child.

"For real? You're just like a princess." Naruto said and it was just as Hinata feared.

Hinata sat still in her seat, not knowing what to respond to that. Honestly, she didn't like it too much how she's being treated at home and even when going out. Her father was just too overprotective of her and treats her, well almost like just what Naruto said. Both for her and her little sister.

Perhaps it showed how he cares for them even if he had little time at home. Despite the perks of being a child from the Main Hyuuga house, it also comes with her father being utterly strict to the point of Hinata not having much freedom and being forced to always excel at everything and not doing so meant consequences. This was why she had to do the project at home where she could be watched and that her father told her to be quick with the project as possible.

She didn't want to finish it soon though because this was her time to be with Naruto. She didn't even have an idea what might happen once they're finished with the project. She thought that Naruto would probably go back to not noticing her and she would be too shy to approach him.

"Hey, you wanna take a break and eat?" she heard Naruto ask him.

"I suppose we could eat for a bit." Hinata laid down her pencil and then tried to reach for the chocolate bread but it proved too far for her reach. To her surprise Naruto took a piece of it and handed it for her.

"Thank you." she said softly as she took the bread. Naruto then placed the glass of juice in front of her.

"No problem." said Naruto with a smile then also took a bite out of his own bread. After finishing half of the bread, he asked a random question to Hinata. "Hinata, have you ever thought about how this is the first time we've worked as a pair since like... well I don't even remember if we ever have been paired before."

"Uhm yes, I've thought about it too. This is the first time I've been paired up with you." Hinata answered, not even needing a few seconds to think because she knew that this was the first time. That was why she was both so excited and nervous when their names were called by Mr. Sarutob i

"Right? Actually, I don't really recall talking much with you at school too. Kiba loves talking about you a lot though." Naruto finally said. After trying to figure out when to input the subject of his best friend, he was finally able to. It wasn't the best and he bet that Kiba might not even approve about him telling Hinata that but how else could he do it? Kiba didn't really give examples. "And speaking of Kiba, he actually had me bring something for you."

"Kiba-kun?"

"Just wait for a bit while I get it." Naruto then took the plastic bag near him and out he took the four bread rolls he bought from the store and laid it on the table. "Kiba told me to give this to you."

It was a lie though. Kiba wasn't the one who asked Naruto to give them to Hinata but rather it was Naruto who thought about giving something for her when he was at the store to buy the anmitsus. If Kiba was gonna give Sakura the anmitsus in his place, he supposed it was only fair if he did the same for his friend.

Hinata saw the bread rolls and read the label. Cinammon rolls. Her favorite bread.

"Here." Naruto handed them to her and she had no choice but to accept. First because it would be rude to decline it and second, they were cinnamon rolls. How could she refuse?

"Do you like cinnamon rolls? Naruto curiously asked. It was only now he realized they were cinnamon rolls that he bought and he was hoping Hinata was okay with them. After all, not all people are fan of cinnamon.

"Yes. They're my favorite bread." she replied eagerly.

"Really?" Naruto was relieved to hear that. Talk about coincidence. Kiba would love to know this. And speaking of Kiba. "As I was saying, Kiba loves talking about you."

"He does?"

"You don't have to act all innocent Hinata. Of course Kiba loves talking about you. I'm sure you must already know that he likes you a lot." Naruto said as nothing was more obvious.

"I... I know. He's told me that before. I didn't want to believe him though."

"You don't believe him?" Naruto was surprised to hear that. He may not be always at Kiba's side when the brunet tries asking her out or even when initiating conversations but he knows that Kiba has always been direct with his intentions. He also didn't believe Kiba would lie about whenever he would tell Naruto on his failed attempts of asking Hinata out. "But it's true Hinata. Kiba does like you. Why else would he ask you out?"

Hinata sat before him speechless. She definitely didn't expect that she would be having a conversation like this, and especially when it's her crush reminding her of it. She felt so embarrassed that she couldn't look him in the eye but it wasn't only because Naruto was talking about an admirer of her, it was more of how Naruto talked about it so casually. How he was much okay with the fact that Kiba likes her and wants to go out with her and he was even reminding her of that. It crushed her heart and it only made it known to her that Naruto would never feel about her the same way she does for him.

"Hinata? Hey, you okay?" Naruto asked with worry when Hinata didn't respond.

"Huh?" Hinata turned up to look at Naruto. "Yeah, I'm fi-fine."

"Uhm, did I make you feel uncomfortable? I'm sorry if I sounded intrusive. Sometimes I say things without thinking. I didn't expect you'd be so shy talking about Kiba." the blond said, thinking the exact opposite of why Hinata reacted that way.

"No, it's fine." she shrugged off. Naruto was thinking about adding more excuses but decided not to.

After that awkward conversation, he mentally slapped himself. He should have known Hinata would react like that in such as sensitive topic. It wasn't like he's been friends with her for a long time to just talk about it, heck he didn't even know if they were friends already or just 'friendly project partners'. He wasn't in the right position to tease her about Kiba.

And so he decided to keep quiet for a while, not knowing what to say after that. He finished eating his share of bread and drank his juice and after just a minute he went back to work. He focused on cutting up the wirings to the specified lengths Hinata has given her as it was proven earlier that he was not that good at drawing up the circuit. Hinata also finished eating soon and she continued to take care of drawing on the board the design of the 'ramen sign' and marking the places where they will place the sockets and switches.

Silence was kept between the two. Naruto was too reluctant to begin conversation again in fear of making his partner uncomfortable. Hinata's reaction earlier was unusual. When he asked her if she was okay, she replied that she was fine but even Naruto could see that she wasn't. This kept Naruto thinking about what he could have done or said wrong. He only reminded her about Kiba's feelings for her and that wasn't in any way offensive, right?

Then he remembered about something Kiba wanted to know. Was there anyone that Hinata likes?

He most likely have let the opportunity to ask it slip by. They still have time though and a few more meet ups before they finish the project. He supposed Kiba can wait. It made him think about what could be happening with Kiba and Sakura right then. Was he able to give her the anmitsus? Does she even like anmitsus as Kiba believes? Did she take them? Would that up his chances with her even if for a bit when she knows it was him who sent for those anmitsus?

He gave out a sigh. He probably shouldn't think much about it and rather focus on their project. After all he still had other homeworks to do and stuff to study once he gets home. He took another measurement on the wire and was about to cut it when he heard three knocks on the door and a voice of a girl on the other side calling out Hinata's name before sliding the door open.

"Onee-sama."

A young girl who looked around 12 years old stood on the door, bearing a striking resemblance to Hinata aside from her long dark brown hair tied at the ends with two pink ribbons in front. Naruto also immediately noticed the light orange color of her shirt since it was his favorite color.

"Wow! It's really you!" the young girl said with excitement. "Naruto."

"Hanabi!" Hinata gasped out in surprise at her little sister's mention of Naruto's name while the owner of the name stood in wonder at how this kid knows him.

A/N: I had to cut there. The chapter was getting longer than I planned. Well at least we can wonder why Hanabi knows who Naruto is and what else she's going to say. Does she know about Hinata's crush on Naruto and will this slip up reveal to Naruto about Hinata's feelings for her?

We'll see in the next chapter.

Thank you for those who left reviews. I've read suggestions as to the pairings. It appears that SasuKarin is okay with the readers who left reviews and someone even wants a KibaSaku. I'll think about those thoroughly. I lean on going with the SasuKarin but still finding a way to make it work. As for Kiba, it's still too early.

So, feel free to leave a review and/or suggestions. They'll help me a lot in writing this story. Also, belated greetings to Sasuke. It was his birthday two days ago. I forgot about it though because if I remembered about it a week before, I would definitely have written a birthday fic for him.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Naruto?" the blond muttered softly in confusion. This newcomer who most likely was Hinata's little sister knew his name?

"Hi, my name is Hanabi." the girl said cheerfully as she waved a hand at Naruto. The blond was about to say a 'hi' back but Hinata spoke before he could.

"Hanabi, how many times do I have to tell you to knock before barging in?" scolded the older Hyuuga.

"I'm sorry." Hanabi apologized but still even without asking for permission she walked towards Hinata. "But nee-sama, when I heard Natsu said you have a boy over, I just had to see him. Especially since it's…"

"Hanabi!" Hinata yelled out her name in order to stop what she was about to say. Her innocent but utterly curious sister was going to let out her secret crush to Naruto if she didn't stop talking. She made a pleading look at her, hoping that she would understand without Hinata even saying a word.

"I…"

"Don't tell him anything." Hinata whispered in her direction in order to make sure she would keep quiet about that 'forbidden topic'. Even with Naruto just beside her, it was almost inaudible but Hanabi understood her.

"Hanabi, the two of us are busy doing a project. Would you please go back to the living room?" she requested.

"But I wanna stay." the young girl insisted.

"Hanabi." Hinata said firmly. The girl was about to give in to her elder sister's request but not before Naruto spoke up.

"Hinata, aren't you being a bit too strict?" he said, surprising both girls. "Come on, let your sister stay. Maybe she can even help us do some of our tasks."

Hanabi's eyes beamed with joy upon hearing that. She knew Hinata had no choice but to let her stay now that Naruto was the one who suggested it. She would never go against his request.

"Wh- I uh- okay." Hinata could only agree in defeat. "Hanabi, you can sit to my left. Just get a pillow over there."

Hanabi skipped towards the shelves at the edge of the room, got her pillow and sat next to Hinata. After that, her eyes were fixed on Naruto. The blond noticed this and gave a smile to her.

"Hi Hanabi-chan." he greeted her, in response to the one she gave from before. "I'm Naruto, but I suppose you already knew that. How'd you know my name anyway?"

Hinata's heart thumped erratically upon that. She had no idea what Hanabi would answer to that and it wasn't like she was in a position to tell her what to say. The truth was Hanabi accidentally saw Hinata scrolling through her FB app in her phone, looking at the different pictures of Naruto nearly more than a year ago. Hanabi, as a curious fifth grader girl didn't let Hinata off the hook until she made her elder sister confess that Naruto was her crush. That was how Hanabi knows who Naruto is and if Hanabi ever mentioned anything about that, Hinata would probably die in embarrassment.

"Uhm, well…" Hanabi paused for a few seconds, thinking about what to say. Even without Hinata telling her, she knew that her sister wouldn't appreciate if she told Naruto the true story. It was tempting to do it just to see what her sister's reaction would be but she wasn't that cruel. "Hinata-nee-sama told me she had a partner for a project yesterday. She told me your name and that you're blond. When Natsu-san told me that you're here after I've come home from school, I immediately went here. My sister's never brought home a schoolmate before, especially a boy." Hanabi winked at Naruto upon saying the word 'boy'.

"That explains it." Naruto smiled at her. "Well then, I suppose we should continue with the project. Hinata?"

"Ye-yes." Hinata nervously agreed.

"I wanna help." Hanabi reminded them.

"It's okay with me." said Naruto then he asked Hinata if she was okay with it. Having no choice again in fear of looking bad in front of Naruto, she agreed.

"Sure. You can cut out these wires to these specific lengths written on this paper." Hinata showed her the outline, borrowing it from Naruto for a moment.

"I've already cut out the first 10 lengths of wire Hanabi-chan." Naruto informed. "You can do the bottom ten while I do the middle 15. Here, you can use this pair of scissors."

Hanabi took the pair of scissors from Naruto and with a bit of instruction from Hinata, she went on with her task. Hinata resumed with drawing the outline on the board while Naruto focused on his own task too.

The room went silent once each of them concentrated on what they were assigned to do. Somehow making conversation became awkward now that Hanabi was also inside the room. Hinata didn't want to start a random conversation with Naruto now that her sister was there and while Hanabi was itching to do the exact opposite and bombard Naruto with questions, she felt that it wouldn't look good to be a distraction for him.

The silence was only broken when Hanabi announced that she was finished with her task, much to Naruto's surprise.

"Whoa, that fast?" Naruto looked at the lengths of wiring that Hanabi finished cutting. Indeed she was done with her task.

"Yup."

"Well, thank you Hanabi-chan. I'll be finished with mine shortly." Naruto informed.

"I'll help." Hanabi offered and even before Hinata or Naruto could say something, Hanabi stood up, took her pillow and scissors and made her way across to sit beside Naruto. Now the blond had both Hyuuga sisters on each of his sides.

"It's okay if I sit here, right?" Hanabi asked.

"Yeah of course. We can finish cutting up the remaining length needed and even peel out the ends afterwards."

"I don't know how to peel the wires so you have to teach me."

"No problem."

Hanabi then proceeded to helping Naruto finish his task. Hinata on the other hand couldn't help but be distracted by the sight before her. Her sister was actually sitting next to Naruto comfortably. He's warmed up to her so fast and it was just the first time they met. Somehow she felt a bit jealous on the fact that her sister could talk with him so naturally while it took all she had just to control her nervousness and to speak straight.

More than that though was her fear of Hanabi saying something 'unwanted' to Naruto was increasing by the bit. If she ever let out about her secret crush on Naruto, she wouldn't know what to do.

"So uhm," Naruto voiced out, calling the attention of Hanabi. "May I ask which school you go to?"

"I attend Konoha Elementary School." Hanabi replied.

"Well that figures. It's the same school Hinata and I attended." Naruto chuckled at how he didn't think about that before he asked. "Did you ever have Iruka-sensei as your adviser?"

"Oh Iruka-sensei? Not an adviser but he did teach us in Maths and Science during 2nd grade I think."

"Cool. I remember how I used to give that guy a lot of trouble." Naruto snickered, remembering the times he pulled pranks on that said teacher. Sometimes even Kiba would help him do those pranks and they'd be sent to detention together.

Hanabi didn't continue the conversation on that topic after that but after just a few seconds, she tapped her finger on Naruto's shoulder to get his attention. When the blond turned his head, he saw Hanabi motioning for him to move his head closer so she could whisper something to him. Naruto, curious as to why complied and Hanabi leaned over, closing the gap between her lips and Naruto's ears while she covered the area with both of her hands so Hinata couldn't hear.

"Sorry if I'm a bit distracting but I just wanna ask. Are you really just my sister's project partner or are you her boyfriend?"

"W-what?!" Naruto retreated from Hanabi upon hearing her very unexpected question. Hinata almost jumped out in surprise upon Naruto's sudden loud reaction.

"O-of course I'm just her project partner." Naruto said in defense. He couldn't believe she just asked him that and he was caught off guard. He looked at her to see if she believed him but Hanabi gave him a doubtful look, making him explain to her something that she, and especially Hinata would never expect to hear.

"And besides, it's not like I like your sister in that way. I'm not her boyfriend." he reiterated.

The room felt silent after that. Hanabi sat still in her place not knowing what to say. She didn't mean for things to go that way when she asked him that. She just wanted to tease him a little and maybe find out if Naruto possibly liked her sister back but never did she expect that Naruto would respond like that.

And it was the worst for Hinata. As soon as those words escaped Naruto's lips, she felt as if her insides were being twisted by a supernatural force. She couldn't move, couldn't say a word. Naruto, the boy of her dreams just said that he didn't like her.

She had no idea what Hanabi said to him but she could guess. Hanabi probably asked him if he was her boyfriend and Naruto denied it. But to top that he just had to say that he didn't like her in that way. The way a boyfriend and girlfriend likes each other.

She hadn't even confessed to him yet and he's already rejected her in a way. And nothing hurt more than that.

"I-I was just teasing." she heard Hanabi say to Naruto, her voice shaking a bit. Hinata couldn't even look in their direction at the embarrassment she was feeling right then. "I'll just... go back to my room now."

Without even waiting for a response from Naruto or Hinata, Hanabi stood up and made her way out of the room as fast as she could. She knew she messed up bad and that she would certainly have to apologize to her sister.

"What's up with her?" Naruto questioned once Hanabi was out of the room. He half expected Hinata to respond but she didn't. Naruto sat there not knowing of the tension that has just been created by his response to Hanabi's curious question. In truth he was not even fully aware of what he said in response. It was just in his panicked state that he rashly came up with those answers to defend himself. And him knowing about how Hinata was off-limits because of Kiba probably had something to do with that.

"I'm sorry if my little sister's any trouble." Hinata said, doing all she could to set aside the words she heard just moments before. She had to make it look like she wasn't affected by it in any way. They have a project to finish after all.

"Oh no don't. She's not really any trouble at all. I was just really surprised about what she asked me." Naruto explained. "Anyway, how are things at your side?"

"Oh, I'm actually nearly finished with the outline. Just a few more minutes and we can attach the bulb sockets and switches."

"Really? Let me see." Naruto said excitedly as he scooted closer to Hinata and leaned his head down to take a closer inspection on the board. Hinata's breath hitched when Naruto was suddenly so close to her again.

"Wow. You're amazing Hinata." Naruto complimented. "I'm so lucky I got you as a partner because there's no way I'd be able to create something like this by myself. And you do it so fast too."

"Th-thank you." Hinata stuttered to say back. Naruto just complimented her and she couldn't prevent her cheeks from turning red again and the blond didn't fail to notice it.

"Hey, you're turning red again. Seriously Hinata, I've never met anyone who blushes as much as you do. It was just a compliment."

"I..." Hinata tried to defend herself but found herself stuck for words.

"Come on, you really need to work on that shyness of yours."

"Bu-but… I can't help it."

"Why not?"

"Because..." 'Because it's you.' Hinata said in her thoughts. But there was no way she was gonna say that out loud.

"Because of what?"

"Because I... because..." and Hinata was stuck in a predicament. What should she say? Should she make up an excuse as to why she acts so nervous and always blushing around Naruto? Or should she just tell him the truth right now that it's because of him that she's like this? But if she did and Naruto doesn't feel the same about her, just like what he said earlier, then she'd probably lose any chance of being with him. She couldn't even dare think about the thought of Naruto avoiding her.

"It's because..." she was able to look at Naruto one last time before her vision suddenly darkened and she fainted.

"HINATA!" Naruto yelled in panic as he saw her leaning backwards for a fall. He lunged for her and was able to catch her head with his left hand just in the nick of time before she hit the floor.

"Phew! That was close." Naruto sighed in relief. He couldn't believe that she actually fainted. He's never seen anyone faint before and for such a weird reason. He didn't know what to do so he tried to rouse her up by shaking her body and calling out her name. He was really worried and he feared something bad might have happened when Hinata wouldn't respond for the first few seconds. He then stopped gently shaking her and brought the thumb of the hand he used to support her head to her cheek and began to rub mildly on it, hoping that it would wake her up. Upon doing that though, he was surprised at how soft and smooth Hinata's cheek was and for a few seconds his gaze fell on her unconscious face.

'She looks so… cute.' he thought but instantly caught himself saying that. 'Ah, this is not the time to be admiring her. She's Kiba's girl.' he reminded himself.

"Na-naruto-kun?" Hinata who was in a dazed state asked. This shook Naruto from his musing and he looked back at Hinata. She was confused at the situation she was in. Naruto was above her and his face was so close to her. And then she realized that he was holding her, his left thumb on her cheek and yet she didn't know why. Was she dreaming? Why does it look like Naruto was about to kiss her, like in those dreams she had about him for so many times.

"Hinata, thank God. Are you okay?" Naruto asked with worry. Hinata didn't understand why he was asking her that so she just answered him honestly.

"I'm fi-fine, I guess. I feel a bit light headed though."

"Do you think you can sit down or do you wanna lay down for a bit to rest?"

"La-lay down?" she asked with a look of even more confusion. Why would Naruto ask her something like that?

"Hinata you fainted just barely a minute ago." Naruto told her, seeing as she was completely unaware of what just transpired. "I was lucky enough to catch you before you hit your head on the floor."

"I fainted?" she asked surprised. Then it all clicked to her the reason why Naruto was holding her in that way. Not wanting to trouble him any longer, she helped herself sit up and thus Naruto let go of her.

"Yeah. So, are you feeling okay now or do you want me to call Natsu?"

"I'm okay now. Thank you for catching me."

"No problem. Well it's not like it's the first time I've caught…" Naruto began to say, recalling the incident that happened yesterday but then he stopped after remembering how he 'caught' Hinata in such an inappropriate way. And for the first time, instead of Hinata blushing, it was Naruto who's face began to turn into a shade of red and he had to look away from Hinata's direction.

"Uhm, about yesterday... I didn't mean to... you know... catch you in that way." Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head as he looked down. Because of this he didn't see Hinata's reaction to that.

It wasn't only Naruto who's been bugged by that incident ever since it happened. Hinata of course couldn't help but think of it too. She of course knew it was an accident in trying to save her from a fall but she definitely felt his hands on her chest. She felt them as they gave a squeeze that made her yelp out in surprise. And the feeling of those hands didn't fade until she returned home.

"I know Naruto-kun. You really shouldn't think about it too much. You saved me after all, and that would be twice now. So thank you."

"No biggie. And I glad to hear that you're okay with it. I don't want you to think I'm a perv or something."

"Of course not. Like you said, it wasn't intentional."

"Yeah. So uh, by the way... I wonder what time it is." Naruto suddenly thought. He looked at his wristwatch and saw it was already past five. "Hm, I didn't realize we've already worked on this for more than an hour. I can still stay for half an hour more though if you want us to finish this project early."

"I'm okay continuing the project although we still do have that homework in Maths and that quiz on English tomorrow." Hinata reminded him.

"Oh yeah, gee i almost forgot. I suppose I have to work on that too."

"The Physics project's not due until the week after the next one so we still have time to do it. It's okay with me if you want to go home now so you can do the homework and study." Hinata said, although a part of her hoped that Naruto would stay so she could spend more time with him. But then again if they finish the project early, then she wouldn't have the opportunity to work with Naruto in the longer run.

"I suppose we can just continue this. The outline's done and the wires have been cut. Next meeting we can start with placing the sockets, peeling off the wires and connecting them. And besides, you might wanna rest for now after fainting like that."

"I guess so..."

"Well then, let's store this somewhere safe and I'll head home. Kō's gonna drive me home right 'cause I don't think I can walk all the way back."

"Of course he'll drive you home."

"Hehe. I was just joking. I knew that."

And so the two of them stored the materials on the shelf in the study room. Hinata called for Natsu and she took care of the plates and glasses on the table. Once they were finished cleaning up, Hinata accompanied Naruto to the main entrance and outside there was Kō already waiting for Naruto.

Naruto said his goodbye to Hinata and that he'll see her tomorrow. Hinata did the same and watched as the car left their estate. When the car was out of view she returned to the living room and was surprised to see Hanabi waiting for her, her hands clasped together with her two index fingers twirling around each other.

"Nee-sama, I'm sorry about earlier. I was just teasing him I swear. I asked if you were really just partners for the project or if he's secretly your boyfriend. I didn't know he would respond like that." Hanabi explained in a very guilt-filled voice.

Upon hearing that, Hinata's earlier thoughts were confirmed. Naruto did say those words thinking about her in that way. He really said that he didn't like Hinata in the way she likes him.

But then again didn't she also want to know what Naruto thought of her? She never imagined she would hear it like that but maybe it was better than her confessing her love for him and then getting rejected. She probably wouldn't be able to take it if Naruto told her that he didn't like her in that way while talking straight to her. She would be utterly crushed.

"Don't worry about it Hanabi. At least now I know what he thinks of me." Hinata said sadly with a sigh. "It's not like I didn't expect it. I know that Naruto-kun's in love with Sakura. But at least thanks to this project I get to spend time with him."

"I'm sorry nee-sama." Hanabi once again apologized but now not of what she did but more of being sorry of her elder sister's unrequited love.

"Hanabi, it's okay. Come here." she motioned for her sister and she held her in a hug. Hanabi hugged her back tightly. It was their own way of showing their care for each other.

"I still want you to be with Naruto." whispered Hanabi. "You're the most beautiful girl I know nee-sama. Naruto just doesn't see it yet. You still have more time to spend with him right?"

"Yes. I think we'll need at least three more meetings to finish the project."

"Then make him fall in love with you." Hanabi told her. "It could be your one and only chance."

"I know Hanabi. I know."

A/N:

Almost four weeks for this chapter. I have a lot of free time and yet I couldn't even post once a week. I must admit this story is the hardest for me to write. This is my first multi-chapter straight story and it's just so different from what I used to write before.

Do you guys think that the pace of the story is slow? I originally planned this to be a shorter multi-chapter fic but it looks like this will take more chapters than I expected. I can't just let Naruto fall in love with Hinata all of a sudden. Remember that he still likes Sakura. It's hard to see other girls in a different way when you have your eyes on one girl. It also doesn't help that Naruto knows Kiba's after Hinata.

Next chapter will feature a conversation between Naruto and Sasuke and this will probably help push the NaruHina we want.

Leave your thoughts about the chapter in a review. It would really help me with writing future chapters, especially now that I'm having a harder time with this story.

P/S: Hanabi's 11 years old by the way and in sixth grade. I believe that even at an age like that, Hanabi is capable of understanding crushes and about teenage relationships. You know how kids these days can even get a girlfriend in elementary.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Thanks Kō-san." Naruto said as he got off the car just in front of his house.

"Just Kō is fine." the Hyūga responded. "I'm not really that much older than you."

"Really?" the blond's eyebrows raised in surprise. "How old are you then?"

"22. Well then, see you tomorrow Naruto." Kō waved off and as soon as he shut the window tight, he zoomed off, headed back to the Hyūga estate.

"22 huh? I never thought Hinata's guard is just 6 years older than us. Probably just finished college." Naruto muttered under his breath as he walked towards the door. He knew that Karin and Sasuke were probably working on the project hence the lights being open. Just like yesterday it was Karin who opened the door for him.

"You're later than usual. You went to Hinata's place?" she asked curiously. She was well aware that Hinata was his partner and of him going over there.

"Yeah. We started on the project and we might finish it in two more meets." Naruto told her as he took off his shoes.

"Hinata must really be happy she's got to be paired with you." Karin said with a hint of excitement.

"Huh? Why do you say so?" Naruto asked without a clue of what his sister was talking about. Karin on the other hand could only stare at him in disbelief.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Wait, what do you mean? What am I kidding about?"

"Ugh, you have got to be the densest person I've ever met." Karin said with a shake of her head. "I haven't even have to look out for it but even I can see that she likes you."

"Hinata likes me? What are you talking about?" the blond narrowed his eyes on her. What was this all of a sudden? Was Karin making some kind of joke? She does that often so this must be one of thoae times.

"Hinata likes you, dumbass." Karin reiterated, stressing out each word to point it out to his slow-pick-up brother. She couldn't believe she was actually going to say this. For all the few times she saw Naruto interact with the Hyūga girl, it was so clear that she likes him by the way she would freeze up, stutter and blush. Karin was a girl and she notices those things about other girls, especially those who speak with Sasuke. Hinata never showed any nervousness talking with the other boys in their class. Maybe a bit of shyness, but not in the same level as it was with Naruto.

"Karin, this is not some sort of joke is it?"

"Who knows, maybe it is..." Karin smiled, but deep inside was facepalming herself at the obliviousness of her brother. "OR maybe I'm not! Seriously, how in the hell do you not freaking know that already? I swear half the class probably knows that, maybe even your bestfriend Kiba knows about it too."

"What?! There's no way Hinata likes me like that. And if Kiba knows about it then wouldn't he have told me, especially when he's the one who likes her?"

"Are you an idiot? Of course he wouldn't tell you because he likes her."

"Hey, you two could you keep the noise down!" the sudden shout from the direction of the dining room alarmed the two and stopped them from their exchange.

"Oh, it's Sasuke-temē." Naruto grunted.

"Well I got to get back. Sasuke-kun's probably gonna be annoyed at me taking too long because of your cluelessness." Karin muttered before heading quickly back to Sasuke but Naruto grabbed her by the forearm to stop her.

"Wait, you're not really joking huh? You really think she likes me?" And this time Naruto sounded curious.

"Naruto, I may pull pranks on you some times but this is definitely not one of those."

"But how do you know for sure? Did you ever hear from anybody that she said that she likes me?"

"I do overhear some girl talks. TenTen and Ino sometimes teases her or tries to give her advice on how to make you notice her." Karin supplied.

"Why are you only telling me this now?"

"'Cause I had hope that brain of yours would eventually pick it up but I suppose you're just that dense." Karin smirked and it made Naruto frown due to the teasing about his lack of awareness. "So now that you know, will you try go for..."

"KARIN! Hurry up with the chitchat." an annoyed shout from Sasuke echoed.

"Gotta go. Well good luck." And Karin ran back to the dining room leaving a very shocked and confused Naruto.

'Hinata likes me?' he asked himself. And because of that question he ran through his mind the few times that he has ever interacted with Hinata.

And after more than a minute of recollecting, the realization hit him like a train.

"How did I not see this before? No wonder she's so shy around me, how she stutters almost all the time and why her face gets red when I get too close." he whispered to himself as he climbed upstairs headed to his room. He placed his bag on the chair and let himself fall on the bed, arms spread out wide and let his eyes shut close.

'But if Hinata does like me, then that means...'

Then his eyes shot open and he abruptly sat up upon another realization. "Aw shit, I'm the reason Hinata's not agreeing to date Kiba. What am I gonna do? Do I reject her? Ah, but she hasn't even confessed and what if Karin is just assuming things and she really doesn't like me like that. Man, this is so confusing."

Naruto let himself fall on the bed again, his thoughts about Hinata making his head hurt. Never had he thought about something like this before. As far as he knew no girl has ever shown interest in him and this was all new to him.

Now he dreaded Kiba's call. He knew he would later call to ask how things went and what Naruto found out about Hinata. There wasn't much to tell though as the topic of Kiba liking Hinata was cut-off due to Hinata's reluctancy to answer.

But then he was also curious as to how it went over at Sakura's place. It took a lot of effort from him to get hold of those anmitsus and he was really hoping Sakura would like them enough for her to reconsider his request to go out on a date with him, even if just one. Somehow that thought balanced out his dreading for Kiba's call.

Then his phone beeped, indicating he received a new message. He grabbed it out of his pocket and saw it was from Kiba. His heart pounded hard from both anxiety and excitement.

 **I got a lot to tell you. Thought of calling but maybe it's better to just tell you tomorrow. Sakura and I just called it and we'll probably finish the project by tomorrow. We still have other assignments and stuff to study so it's best if we get to that first before reporting to each other. See yah tomorrow.**

Naruto frowned upon reading the message. He wanted to know immediately how it went with the anmitsus and now he'd be left to wander all about it for the rest of the night. But Kiba had a point. He needed to work on more important stuff and maybe doing so will help keep his mind off Hinata.

Sighing he picked up his bag and took his Maths book, flipping to the page where there were items that needed solving. He slammed it uninterestedly on the study table and took a seat, opened the little white lamp and began to read the problems. It was gonna be a long and boring night.

...

Naruto was walking past the hallway filled with students when he saw a glimpse of cherry blossom colored hair. It was no doubt Sakura and she was placing books inside her locker. Naruto smiled, ran up to her excitedly and waited until she turned around to notice him.

"Hi Sakura-chan." he cheerfully greeted his crush.

"Naruto, what is it?" the girl responded and to his surprise, she wasn't showing any hint of annoyance like usual. He thought that maybe it was because of the anmitsus he sent for her.

"So, did you get the anmitsu I had Kiba give for you?"

"Yes. I loved them. Thank you Naruto."

"Really?" Naruto couldn't contain his excitement at her responses. "Well speaking of anmitsus, I was wondering, on Sunday, there's a new diner that opened and they're serving some really delicious anmitsus. Maybe you'd want to visit it with me. We could watch a movie together and then head for the diner. It will be my treat." Naruto asked of her very hopingly.

"I I- wo-would love to, Na-naruto-kun." she replied and Naruto couldn't have felt any happier upon hearing that. Finally, Sakura has agreed to go on a date with her. But then, why did her voice sound completely different? It was soft, and higher pitched and she sounded so shy. She was stuterring and did she just say 'kun' after his name? Sakura never called her Naruto-kun.

After those thoughts got in his head, Sakura suddenly disappeared in front of him and right there looking at him was Hinata. Naruto blinked a few times just to see if what he was seeing wasn't a trick in his mind.

"Hi-hinata? What are you doing here? Where's Sakura-chan?" he asked confused and looked around for the pinkette.

"What do you mean Naruto-kun? Sakura-san isn't here. It was me you were talking to earlier." she informed him.

"You?"

"Yes. You asked if I wanted to go out and have some ramen at Ichiraku's. I'd really love to go out with you Naruto-kun." Hinata cheerfully said as she grabbed hold of Naruto's arm and leaned onto him. This made Naruto still and blush at how close Hinata was to him and on the fact that she was holding onto him in that affectionate kind of way. He could also feel how her breasts, her really gifted breasts pushed against him, how big and soft they felt against him. His heart thumped erratically and he didn't know how to react nor what to say.

"Hinata, is it true you want to go out with me?" he asked, dismissing the earlier thought that he was supposedly speaking with Sakura.

"Of course Naruto-kun, be-because... I like you." she confessed.

"You, you do?"

"Of course." Hinata smiled at him. "Do you... do you like me too?" And it was her turn to ask.

"H-huh? Do I like you too?" Naruto repeated her words. Hinata was looking at him in the eyes and he found himself staring right back. It was as if the world around them stopped and he was captured in a trance by those eyes. Those lavender eyes.

They were beautiful. Mesmerizing. How was it that he only noticed that now?

Hinata. She was beautiful.

Then the school bell rang. Suddenly Hinata vanished from his sight and the hallway collapsed. The ringing got even louder until he found himself awake inside his bedroom. It took him a few seconds to realize that the school bell was actually the alarm from his cellphone and so he reached out to dismiss it.

"A dream?" he asked himself.

"Oh my god, I just had a dream about Hinata!" he shouted out loud.

...

"So, you wanna hear what about what happened yesterday at Sakura's?" Kiba asked as he took a huge bite off his large double cheeseburger. He and Naruto were eating lunch outside, sitting on one of the many benches around the school just like the one Naruto and Hinata used when they talked about their project.

"Well duh! I wanted you tell me since last night. It's just you who insisted you tell it to me only now." Naruto replied, unable to hide his impatience. "So, did Sakura like the anmitsus I bought for her? You did tell her it was from me right?"

"Chill down. Of course I told her and surprisingly she accepted and she liked it." Kiba finally told him.

"Oh yeah, that's sweet. Seriously, there was that part of me that thought she was gonna refuse once she learned it was from me. She must really love anmitsus. I wonder if maybe she'll warm up to me now." Just like in the earlier part of his dream, Naruto thought.

"About that Naruto..." Kiba looked at the blond with a grim expression and Naruto didn't like it. "Man, you know you're my best friend and I just wanna be honest with you."

"Be honest? Did she say something bad?"

"I don't think Sakura would agree to go out with you, even if you continue to do this."

"But why? You're the one who said she liked them. You gotta agree that's at least a step closer."

"It's not that. It's because of what she said to me. You probably wouldn't want to hear this but I think you should."

"If you think I should then tell me Kiba." the blond said determined. Kiba sighed and took a deep breath to ready himself because even if he did say Naruto should hear it, he didn't want to be the one telling him.

"She doesn't like you Naruto. She told me, all those times you asked her, she was just trying her best to be polite in refusing. And she said she refuses you because she doesn't want to lead you on. She doesn't want you to think that if she agreed to go on one date with you that she'll consider continuing it. That's why she won't give you even one date."

Kiba looked at Naruto for his reaction and he could clearly see the change in his expression. He waited to see if he was gonna say something but it appeared he wasn't so he continued.

"And more than that, she said that you're not his type and that I shouldn't even try convincing her. Then I tried to ask her that if Sasuke ends up dating Karin, if she would give you a chance. She said she still won't and that there was no way she'd let Karin date Sasuke if she had anything to do about it."

After that, Kiba went silent. It was all he was going to tell Naruto and right now he was waiting for the blond's reply. He knew that it was gonna be hard to take. Heck, Naruto might even try to argue about how wrong he was and that there's still a chance with Sakura. He might even make a scene with how loud and affirmative he could be with his arguments.

But nothing like that came. All he heard was a defeated sound from Naruto.

"So that's it huh?" the blond uttered. He was looking down at the ground, unable to face his best friend. He felt a really great pang in his stomach, the same feeling you get when you're on top of the rollercoaster, uncertain when you're gonna start falling, and it was the same feeling when you get embarrassed.

Yes, that was how he felt. He felt embarrassed about the fact that it was Kiba who heard it from Sakura. That he was the one who had to tell him about it. Maybe it would have been less worse if Sakura just said to him herself and not have Kiba know it. He felt that Kiba must be pitying him and he didn't want that.

"Yes, that's it." Kiba affirmed.

"Thank you Kiba. At least now I know."

"So are you still going to ask her out, now that you know what she thinks?" Kiba asked in a soft voice, not really wanting to ask Naruto for the blond's sake, but the need to hear the answer getting the better of him.

"I don't know yet Kiba. It's what you said to me, but it's not what Sakura said to me. I need to hear it from her. If she really doesn't want to go out with me, even if I tried my best, then I'd want to hear it from her." Naruto said firmly.

"So-" Kiba was about to say 'sorry' but caught himself before he could. He didn't want Naruto to think he pitied him. Naruto took a bite out of his own burger, not seeming to hear what Kiba was about to say.

"Thank you Kiba." Naruto said after swallowing and gave a weak smile. "I really appreciate that you were able to ask her that. I just feel bad that I couldn't do the same with Hinata."

"What do you mean?"

"Well I tried my best to find out why she's not agreeing to go out with you but then she gets all shy and uncomfortable. I didn't want to put her in that situation." he told him.

"What did you tell her?"

"Oh that. I didn't know how to ask her cause you never told me what to say. I just mentioned about how much you like talking about her cause of how much you like her. Then I gave her some cinnamon rolls I bought from the same store and gave it to her, saying it was from you."

"You gave her cinnamon rolls? Why didn't you tell me you were gonna do that? Did she like them though?" Kiba asked with a bit of worry.

"Yeah. She said it's her favorite bread." Naruto told him putting his mind at ease. "Then again I said to her that she of course must already know that you like her. She told me yes but she also said that she didn't believe you. So I asked why and again I told her that you really do like her but then it was when she got even more shy and looked uneasy so I apologized and stopped probing there. I was supposed to ask her if it was because she liked someone else but I went against it."

'If it was because she likes me.' That thought suddenly came to his mind, making Naruto sit still and stop telling Kiba his tale.

"I see. You did what you could. Anyway, I don't wanna be all prying about her. If she doesn't want to tell you then don't force her." Kiba requested.

"Do you think it's because she likes someone else, like Sakura-chan?"

"It's possible. I've never asked her before."

"Do you have any idea who it could be if she does like some other guy?"

"I- No, I don't." Kiba said but Naruto didn't fail to notice that slight hesitation on the answer and this made Naruto suspicious about him..

"So what are you gonna do about it if you find out she does already like someone else?"

"Well, I don't know. I'm still gonna try to win her over but if she still wouldn't want me, then I guess I won't force her."

"You're gonna give up just like that?"

"Well, maybe not but I've asked her out lots of times before. I know we made this agreement of finding out about Sakura and Hinata to help our chances with them but if Hinata won't give me a chance, then I don't want to insist on her."

"But right now we don't know who she likes yet, or if she really does like another guy."

"So try to find out. You told me she became uncomfortable when you brought the subject of me asking her out. So, maybe you can try talking about other things first to make her comfortable and more open, then tell her that you're curious and then bring the topic up." Kiba suggested.

"How do I do that though?"

"I'll leave it up to you. I'm sure you'll think about something."

"Great." Naruto said sarcastically. "Just don't blame me if I mess up."

"You won't. I have complete trust in you."

A/N:

I don't know what to say. It's been so long. It's just this has been the most difficult story for me to write. I don't even think this chapter is necessary. There's way too much words and the progression is slow (and that's why I had to use Karin into telling Naruto about Hinata's crush on him to up the pace). Hopefully I can find a remedy for the next chapter.

From time to time I see people following the story and it makes me feel bad I can't produce fast enough. For those of you who will stay through with this story, please know I'm really grateful for the patience.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Hi Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted his crush in that usual excited way he did. His feeling inside was different though and it had everything to do with what Kiba said. He felt happy to see her and yet he dreaded it too.

"Oh, hi Naruto." she actually said back and to his utter surprise she didn't look annoyed. It was as if it was just like the dream he had earlier. It was so similar that he thought that he might still be dreaming and that everything that happened, what he talked about with Kiba was just created in the back of his mind.

"So, uh..." he thought of words to say, his mind blank from thinking about the dream. He better speak up or else Sakura would go her way. "...did you like the a-anmitsus?"

"Oh, about that. Kiba did tell me it was from you." she said but then she paused. Naruto didn't speak back, hoping against all odds Sakura would say she loved them, then maybe even ask him where he got them and then he'd offer to eat anmitsus with her and she'd agree.

Who was he kidding though? That was highly unlikely.

"They were really delicious." Sakura finally spoke. "Thank you Naruto."

Her response made Naruto's blue eyes grow wide and his lips grin ear to ear. Sakura thanked her for the anmitsus, and she loved them. That was a good sign. Maybe this really was the best time to ask her out to eat.

"I'm glad to hear that Sakura-chan. You know if you'd like..."

"Naruto." she quickly said his name, making him stop midsentence. "I really appreciate you sending those anmitsus for me but... I'm not gonna change my mind, no matter how many times you ask me."

"But you haven't even heard what I was gonna..." the blond tried to reason out but Sakura didn't even want to hear him out.

"I already know Naruto. And I'm sorry. I'm not gonna go out with you no matter how many times you ask me. You're not my... type. Now if you would, I need to get to my next class." Sakura reminded him and moved to his side to walk pass him. However, Naruto didn't want her to leave just yet so he grabbed her arm.

"Sakura-chan, please just give me a chance." he pleaded, seeming not to have even heard what the pinkette just said to him. Sakura turned to look at him and what was a while ago a calmer demeanor, turned to irritation once again. She forcefully pulled her arm away from Naruto's grasp and walked away, giving him a look of disdain.

Naruto felt as if an arrow had been shot into his chest, and it was no Cupid's arrow. That was like a ballista missile. The way she looked at him and pulled away, it hurt a lot. He's been turned down for so many times but this time it felt harder for him. Why did he have to feel so hopeful this time? Maybe because of the dream, or maybe because of her eating the anmitsus he sent her and her thanking him for them. But even those things couldn't change the fact that she had no interest in him and wouldn't even want to try.

He felt a huge pang in his stomach thinking all about it. It was that feeling of embarrassment, like when somebody yells at you point blank and you could feel all their emotions. He couldn't help but feel like he was the center of attention when he looked around, knowing that the other students probably saw the exchange between the two of them. Some of them were probably feeling sorry for him and the others secretly laughing at the rejection Sakura gave him.

He knew he couldn't stay there in the hallway anymore so he quickly made his way to his next class, doing his best to keep his emotions in check. When he reached the room it was Kiba who immediately called out his name.

"Yo, what took you so long man?"

"I don't wanna talk about it." Naruto replied stoically as he took his seat next to him. Kiba immediately knew something bad happened by the blond's response.

"Come on what happened, is it something about Saku-"

"Kiba! I said I don't want to talk about it, okay?" Naruto looked him in the eye and Kiba stopped after that. He still was curious though and had a great suspicion it was about Sakura.

An hour after, the bell rang signalling the end of their final period and Naruto got up his seat to go see Hinata. They had a project to finish after all.

"Hey, wait up." Kiba called out as he saw the blond leaving the room. "I'm not gonna pry you about what caused you to be so grouchy earlier but, you're gonna work with Hinata again right?"

"Yeah." Naruto replied normally.

"You know, I really don't wanna force you to do anything especially about this interrogation stuff. But if there's a chance you can slip it in and ask her if there's anyone she likes so I'd know my chances with her..."

"Kiba, about this deal we made, I'm sorry I wasn't able to find out as much for you as you did for me. And sorry about earlier." Naruto sighed. "It's just, like what you told me about Sakura-chan. I got rejected again and I hate to admit it but it's now making me think you are right."

"What did she tell you?"

"That she wouldn't go out with me no matter how many times I ask her. That I'm... not her type." he admitted. He did hear her say that and he tried to dismiss it earlier but now there was almost no choice but to believe her.

"I'm sorry man." Kiba gave him a pat on the back, trying to comfort his friend.

"It's okay Kiba. It's not like I've never been turned down by her before. But maybe this should be the last time. Anyway, I gotta go see Hinata, she's probably already waiting at the parking lot. I'll let you know asap whatever I can get out of her."

"Okay."

...

Just as Naruto said, he met up with Hinata and Kō drove them once again to the Hyūga two didn't talk much on the way there and it wasn't like Naruto would be able to ask Hinata about certain things with Kō in earshot.

They were greeted once again by Natsu and were led to the study. To Naruto's surprise, all their materials were already set on the table and there were already snacka and drinks beside them.

"Whoa, did you ask someone to set it up by the time we get here?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. I figured it will help us in finishing up faster." Hinata replied. Some part of her thought otherwise though as finishing up faster would mean lesser time to spend with her crush. But then Naruto would also be happy to know they would have less trouble to deal with.

"Sweet. Tell whoever it was that set this up I said thanks. So, you gonna change clothes before we start right?"

"Uhm, actually I think I'll just do it later. My clothes are comfortable anyway."

Naruto then looked at Hinata, as in inspected her. To his surprise, he didn't notice that Hinata wasn't wearing that baggy cream jacket she always used to cover herself up. She was wearing a lavender shirt that showed her curves and Naruto could pretty much say he preferred if Hinata would dress just like this more often. She looked rather... sexy.

And that was the first word that came to Naruto's mind.

'Did I just think that Hinata's sexy?' he asked himself. He couldn't help the blush forming on his cheek.

"Na-naruto-kun, is something wrong?" the girl inquired noticing Naruto's change in expression.

"H-huh? Oh, no-nothing." he stuttered to say. "Let's get on with project."

The two then continued their work, Hinata completing peeling off the wirings while Naruto began to screw in the sockets where the bulbs will be placed. Since there were a lot of them to place, Naruto kinda regretted his decision on making the project too fancy because screwing them in was tiring especially because the wood was harder than usual. Hinata was already finished with the wires and was now unsure of what she ought to do next.

"Uhm, Naruto-kun?" she squeaked out quietly, calling the attention of the blond who was focused strongly on his task. He heard her though and looked up and noticed she was done with the wires.

"Oh, are you done?" he asked to which Hinata nodded and asked what she could do next.

"Hmm, I'm not done placing all the sockets yet but I think it would be hard for you to screw them in along with me. Maybe you can connect the wires?" Naruto suggested.

"Uhm, I'll try but I don't know how to place them." Hinata admitted.

"Don't worry, I'll show you." the blond assured her. "You can start with the sockets I've placed. Luckily we have two screwdrivers. Get one for yourself Hinata."

Hinata took a screwdriver as well as Naruto. "Now get the piece of wire that's fit for these two sockets." Naruto pointed and Hinata searched for the wire which she eventually handed him.

"Now, just loosen the screw on this socket just enough for the wire to fit under." he instructed and showed her. Hinata looked at him intently, deep inside jumping with joy that she was spending time with Naruto like this. Not only that they were working together but Naruto was also talking to her, teaching her this close and would glance from time to time just to see if she was listening. Sometimes it was still hard to keep herself from blushing whenever he looked at her.

Rght now she should do her best to focus as she was going to be the one to screw the wires in and it was something she's never done before. She followed his first instruction and tried to loosen the screw of the socket on her side but to her surprise it tightened further. She then heard Naruto giggling, trying his best to hide it but couldn't. Hinata felt her cheeks warming up and she immediately stopped.

"I'm sorry Hinata." the blond quickly apologized. He knew there was a great chance Hinata might turn the screw the wrong way but then again almost everything is turned counter clockwise to be loosened so that's why he couldn't help but giggle a bit even though he didn't want to. "You have to turn it counter clockwise to loosen it."

Naruto reached for her screwdriver and accidentally touched her hand. At that moment it was as if he felt a spark at the contact. He heard Hinata gasp and saw her retreat her hand. He looked up at her and saw how bright her cheeks were, easily visible due to her pale complexion. He was then reminded about what Karin told her the day before.

Hinata likes him.

That's what she told him and the thing he was finding trouble believing. But from the reaction she just gave, maybe Karin was actually right. That Hinata was indeed infatuated with him and so the cause for how she acted around him. Or was it just because she was around a guy? Could it be because she was just really shy? But then again they've been seeing each other for quite some time.

"Sorry." Naruto as he tried to dispell the awkwardness that has taken over them.

"It's o-okay. I'll try turning it the other way." the Hyūga girl said and she grabbed the fallen screwdriver and as Naruto instructed, turned it to the left and was able to loosen the screw.

"Great." complimented the blond who was watching her the whole time. "Now wrap the wire around it and then tighten it after and you're done, like this." It was now Hinata's turn to look at him and she easily followed through.

"I did it." she exclaimed happily. Naruto inspected her work to make sure the wire was snug and it was.

"Now we just have to do this over and over until we connect all of these bulbs to the main electricity source and switch."

And so the two of them continued with their work, taking half an hour to screw around 3/4 of them in place. Naruto would have continued working if not for his stomach growling like a lion from out of nowhere which reminded his brain that he was already hungry and that were snacks and drinks just on the table beside them.

The room was silent due to their focus but even Hinata was able to hear the grumble. She giggled to which Naruto heard and thought sounded cute.

"We should probably take a break."

"Hehe, you're right." Naruto chuckled. "I guess my stomach couldn't wait anymore."

He scooted away from his seat but then suddenly his right leg felt really numb and moving it and making it hit something only made the leg tingle more with a very uncomfortable feeling.

"Ah, oh man I think I sat wrong for too long." Naruto grimaced as he tried to stretch his leg out but very slowly as moving it made the feeling ten times worse.

"Are you okay Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked with heavy concern and got up to go over the blond.

"Ye-yeah. I just gotta let it pass." Which he did and it slowly receded and after a minute it was almost completely gone although his right leg still felt tired and a bit numb.

"Maybe I'm just not used to sitting down on the floor. Your home is very traditional Hinata, unlike ours." he said as he tried massaging his thigh to help alleviate the numbness..

"I'm sorry." Hinata looked down.

"What are you saying sorry for? Come on it's not your fault I squashed a nerve while sitting down."

"I suppose. But, are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah, definitely better than a minute ago. Feels kinda numb still but nothing a walk can't fix."

"A walk? Maybe we can go outside the garden to stretch your leg for a bit while we eat our snacks... bu-but I mean, only if you want?" Hinata blushed heavily as she offered on the spot.

"Really? You'll let me?"

"O-of course. It's just outside this room. There is a sliding door on that other side. I can ask Natsu to bring us something to wear for our feet."

"Awesome." Naruto exclaimed. Slowly he stood up, his leg still a bit numb as he tried to shake off the feeling, literally. Hinata went out to find Natsu and just over a minute they were back with outdoor footwear.

Hinata led the way out while Naruto took the sandwiches, holding both his and Hinata's share. Naruto was surprised at the sight that stood before him.

"Wow! You have a pond filled with kois? And there's a small bridge over it too?" he said excitedly. He knew that Hinata's place was huge but to have something like this in the middle of it, he's never seen anything like it in Konoha. Not even the local park has something like this. "May I go on that bridge?"

"Of course."

The blond wasted no time and walked, run if he could to the middle of the bridge and he looked over the kois. The pond was filled with them, more than twenty in the least all in different shades of orange, black and white. Orange was his favorite color.

"This is so cool." he said under his breath. He didn't even feel the slight tingling in his leg anymore as his gaze was fixed to the kois swimming around the pond. He didn't realize Hinata was already right there standing next to him.

"It's a family tradition to keep kois. We have more although they're in other ponds." Hinata told him as she too took a look over. "Fathers keeps the best colored ones here."

"Cool. I'd like to have one or two but it's not like we have a pond or something to place them."

"You could buy an aquarium to place them."

"Yeah I know, it's just it would probably be boring for them to live inside a box with water. At least with a pond this big they have more room to swim and could have lots of company."

"I suppose so." Hinata agreed.

"Can I feed them? What do they eat?"

"Maybe we can give them bread. Our sandwich is made from whole wheat and baked at home. Sometimes father gives them bread too when he takes a walk here."

"Really? How about the bread from our sandwiches?"

"Of course. Natsu can bring us more later anyway." Hinata informed him as she took a small piece from the sandwich and let it fall on the pond. As soon as the crumb hit the water, the kois beneath them went as fast as they could to the source of the ripple and sound that was made by the crumb, instinctly thinking it could be food.

Naruto saw the really orange koi with the black spot on its forehead gulp down the crumb and it filled him with excitement.

"I wanna feed them too." Naruto said and looked at Hinata as if asking for permission. Hinata smiled at him and nodded and the blond didn't hesitate anymore to take a piece of his bread to throw it down the water. The same reaction from the fishes happened but this time it was the white koi with orange patches that was able to take the crumb.

"Ah, this is so cool. Do you do this a lot Hinata?"

"Sometimes only. Natsu usually feeds them at scheduled times unless father says he wants to feed them. My father is usually busy though so it's mostly Natsu."

"What about Hanabi-chan?" Naruto asked, trying to continue the conversation as he dropped more pieces of bread on the water.

"She used to like feeding them a lot before but now she rarely does. Maybe doing it for so many times takes the excitement away."

"How about you? Has your excitement run out too?"

"Maybe. Fishes aren't really my thing. I suppose their fun to watch when you want to relax or maybe... if you have so-someone there to feed them with so there's someone you can talk to."

"Well I guess it's a good thing I'm here, or else you might not find yourself feeding them again, hehe." Naruto said as he looked and smile at Hinata. Hearing this made her heart skip a beat. It was almost as if it was at that moment that she fully realized Naruto was here, chatting with her and feeding the kois with her. Almost like... a date.

"Oh I just remembered. It's just like in that animé movie The Shape of Voice. You know that?" Naruto asked but Hinata just looked at him confused. "The main characters were feeding the kois with bread and they were over a bridge too, kinda like us."

Main characters.

Feeding kois.

Over a bridge.

Like us.

Us.

Hearing those words, it made Hinata's heart race. Naruto just compared them to main characters of a story. The two of them. How happy that made her feel inside.

For Naruto though, remembering that movie made him think otherwise.

'Ah, what was I thinking? I shouldn't be doing this. I shouldn't be feeding kois with Hinata. She's Kiba's girl damnit. How could you forget? Why are you doing something so romantic with her when she's not even your girlfriend?'

Hinata didn't fail to notice the sudden change in the mood of Naruto and how he looked like he was deep in thought as he just went to stare blankly over the pond after mentioning about the movie.

"Na-naruto-kun. Is something wrong?" she asked softly which startled Naruto a bit and shook him out of his musing.

"Oh, uh, no-nothing. Just thinking about something." he explained in a bit of panic. "Anyway, maybe we should go back to the study room and continue with our work. My leg's feeling fine already."

"Oh, okay." Hinata nodded, feeling disappointed that she couldn't spend more time with Naruto there on that bridge.

The two returned and Naruto immediately went back to work, trying hard to get rid of the thoughts of what happened just a while ago but he couldn't help it. Kiba would come up in his mind, making him feel guilty that he was doing stuff like that with her without his knowing. It was already bad enough he accidentally groped her breasts and dreamed about her just last night, but now he was actually spending time with her aside from the project when he himself knew Hinata might have feelings from him.

But what was he supposed to do? She was his partner and in order to do the project he had to be with her, to talk with her and do stuff with her. Because of that he would be seeing her more than any other girl in their school, see that beautiful face of her, hear that sweet stuttering voice of an angel that was hers.

And deep inside wish he didn't bring up going back to the study room because he enjoyed feeding the kois with Hinata more than he should.

A/N: 4 months for this. I hate it how it took that long for me to write this. Last post was November but I actually started writing December, a whole month after. And then I lost motivation and couldn't think of what to write. This is honestly the hardest story I've ever started writing and it being a 'straight' story is one of the likely reasons. I don't want to give up though. Help is appreciated. If any of you have some ideas, maybe you can leave it on a review and I'll see what I can work with.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Naruto grunted as he screwed in the sockets of the bulbs on the wooden board. He's already on the 20th, each socket requiring two screws for it to be locked in. It was a hard thing to do as it was proven that the board was hard. He'll probably have blisters by the time he finished all of them.

Hinata who was sitting beside him looked with worry. She was finished with placing the wires on the sockets Naruto has secured and after that she also tried to screw a socket on it but her strength proved to be not enough. Her hands were more delicate and Naruto immediately suggested she let him do it for her because he didn't want her to get hurt. That made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. Naruto cared for her enough and even verbally stated his concern.

Right now however, she thought it was better if Naruto took a rest because she could clearly see the strain on him. Like him, she also didn't want him to hurt himself. And besides, it was nearly 6 in the evening and considering they still have classes the next day and that homework in Physics to do, maybe it was time to call it a day. Not that she wants Naruto to go, of course not, but he has to sooner or later.

"Uhm, Naruto-kun?" she called for his attention. The strongly focused Naruto looked up at her as he still struggled to screw the socket tightly.

"Yeah?"

"I was thinking that maybe we should call it a day. You look like you're really having a hard time with that."

"Oh, don't worry about me Hinata. I can do this." he shrugged off.

"I'm sure you can but it is getting late. Your parents might be looking for you."

Naruto glanced at his watch. 5:58. It was getting late like she said. "Oh, you're right. I suppose we can continue it tomorrow."

"Of course. Anyway, I was thinking if there's anyway to make it easier for us to put the screws in. Can we maybe just stick them with superglue?" she suggested. Afterall, all they needed was to put it in place. The screws' other function was to take the ends of the wires and they would still be able to do that.

"Hmmm, I think superglue will be able to hold them, but then the screws go past the socket so we still have to screw them to the board. If only we had an electric drill we can use."

"Well, I think we may have something like that. Since we have a large house, father has bought a lot of hardware tools so if there's anything that needs to be done, someone here will be able to do it."

"Really? That's great!" Naruto exclaimed as his eyes lighted up. That was trully a relief to hear. That screwdriver was killing him and he'd definitely get blisters if he tried to finish all those sockets. Why did he even design the project to be a sign board anyway? There were too many bulbs involved.

"I'll ask Kō if he knows whether we have a drill or not. Sometimes he fixes stuff in the house."

"Okay. Well then, I better get going." Naruto stood up and stretched his arms, also giving out a long yawn. Thankfully he didn't sit on a nerve that time. "We better clean up our workplace."

And so the two of them did. It didn't take quite long and soon Naruto was ready to go with his backpack already on his shoulder.

"I suppose I'll see you again tomorrow." Naruto said, a bit awkwardly. The truth was, ever since they came back from the koi pond, he found it hard to keep Hinata off his mind. He felt an urge to take glances at her. Scratch that, not only glances but to gaze at her when she tried to screw the wires in.

He looked at her, studied her. Her long, dark hair which had a shade of blue. Her eyes with that unusual and yet captivating pale lavender color. Her face that was so smooth that there wasn't a hint of any freckle nor pimple. Her cute, small hands as they held the screwdriver and the expressions she made when she had trouble keeping the wires in place as she screwed them..

His heart thumped in his chest. He's never felt that way before with another girl other than Sakura. Could he be having a crush on her? Hinata? Someone he's only ever interacted with interest or purpose because of a project? That began just 6 days ago?

He felt a bit scared of the thought of that. Just as when they were at the pond, he thought of Kiba again. Kiba's the one who likes her. The reason he was talking to her like this was for him to find answers to the questions Kiba wanted answers to. This wasn't supposed to be him being too close to Hinata, to spend so much time with her that he'd end up seeing her in a different way. But the more time he spent with her, the more he saw her differently. Karin telling him that Hinata might possibly like him only contributed to it.

That was why he focused hard on screwing the sockets himself. He didn't want to be distracted by Hinata doing it too because it ended with him watching her. With him doing the strenous job of twisting the screws, it helped clear off his mind a bit. He didn't notice how the time flew by and was only brought back to the real world when Hinata called out to him.

Then he was made to look at Hinata again. This time it made him nervous. He wasn't supposed to feel this way. Last week when he first spoke to her on what they had to do with the project, he didn't feel a bit nervous even if he didn't interact with Hinata much before. But realizing that he may be feeling something for Hinata shook his confidence in speaking with her. It made him feel a bit shy inside. It was all he could do to keep a straight face as Hinata talked to him about just continuing the work for the next day.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Hinata also said. She accompanied him to the front door and Kō was just a few meters away from the house, waiting for Naruto so he could take him home.

"Bye Hi-hinata." Did he just stutter? He sure did and he damn hoped she didn't notice it.

"B-bye." she stuttered too. Naruto sighed. Maybe Hinata was just influencing him of that habit of stuttering. That was probably it and not because of him liking her. He turned around and was about to walk towards the direction of the car when Hinata surprisingly called him.

"Uhm, Naruto-kun."

"Yeah?" He turned around.

"Uhm, I uh, just want to remind you of the Physics homework." Hinata said to him out of the blue. "It's uh... popped in my mind and I kinda see you fo-forgetting to do some homeworks in the classes we share."

"Oh that? Yeah, I almost forgot." And he did forget. He was so busy with the project that it slipped his mind, especially now that he was going home and all he could think of was laying on his bed then eating dinner when his parents got home. "Wait, what was it about again?"

"The one about resistors."

"Aw man, I didn't even understand a thing about it." Naruto complained after being reminded of the work he still had to do. He was doomed. He really didn't know how to answer a single question about that topic. He probably would have to ask Karin for help even if it will hurt his pride..

"Uhm, if you want I can help you with your homework." Hinata then offered to him. If Naruto's ears could blink it probably would because he might have just heard Hinata say that she was willing to help him with his homework.

"You'd help me?"

"Ye-yes. I mean, I understood it pretty well in class. I can teach it to you."

"That would be nice Hinata. But it's due tomorrow and like you said, I have to get home. I can't stay for you to teach it to me." Naruto told her. The help would really be great but the nervousness he was feeling around her was getting stronger by the minute. He'd have to sort his feelings out later and maybe the next day he would probably see Hinata in the way he used to before. Things would go back to normal.

"We can talk on phone. We already have each other's numbers and I can guide you through the problems." she suggested.

"Uhm, that's uh, great." Naruto forced an enthusiastic sounding reply. He didn't want to take Hinata's help but he didn't want to reject the offer. It might make her feel bad. "I'll uhm, call you later."

"Okay." Hinata smiled at him. Naruto said a goodbye once more and headed for the car.

Back at home, Naruto was met with a sight that really surprised him. The front door was unlocked so he didn't have to knock for Karin to open it so when he opened the door himself, he was met with seeing Sasuke and Karin sitting on the couch together and watching a sit-com. And not just sitting near other. They were sitting side by side with Karin's head slightly leaning on Sasuke's shoulder while Sasuke had his left arm wrapped over Karin's shoulders.

"What the heck?" Naruto uttered out loud, alerting the two to his presence. They turned back to face him.

"Naruto?" Karin said surprised by the sudden voice sounding in the room.

"Wh-what's... you... why do you have your arm wrapped around my sister like that, teme?!" Naruto pointed at Sasuke. The Uchiha only smirked at him though.

"Well the question is, why shouldn't I?" he retorted smugly. "After all, Karin is my girlfriend."

"Gi-girlfriend?" Naruto's jaw dropped. Never had he expected he'd hear that word from Sasuke and especially not when it's associated wth his sister's name. "What the hell, you've been like talking to each other just this Monday. And it's only Thursday."

Naruto couldn't believe it. Sasuke Uchiha, his sister's boyfriend. He knew Karin was head over heels for him but Sasuke never showed interest in any girl before. He always found them annoying and from what he remembered Sasuke didn't even like interacting with Karin in the previous years, especially when she would always come up to him and tell him she likes him.

"You don't approve of it?"

"Heck no I don't."

"As if your opinion matters." Sasuke dismissed him and stood up. "But the fact is, I'm now dating her and we plan to announce it tomorrow at school."

"Yeah Naruto. Don't be such a whiny bitch about it." Karin added while she held onto Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun is now my boyfriend."

Naruto looked at how Sasuke was letting Karin hold him just like that. He knew if it was any other girl he'd have flung them to the other side of the room but he wasn't doing it to Karin. No showing of any desire of avoiding her. Could he really have taken a liking to his sister? In just four days? Or did he actually like her way before?

Sasuke on the other hand looked at his watch to check the time. Actually he and Karin have finished their Physics project over an hour ago and they've decided to just spend the time cuddling with each other. Now that Naruto was here though, he supposed he'd just go and see Karin again tomorrow.

"Well, look at the time. It's already half past six. I better get going." Sasuke announced.

"Right now?" Karin asked with a bit of disappointment.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow, pick you up at 7." Sasuke promised. That put a smile back in Karin's face, knowing starting tomorrow she would be going to school with the company of her boyfriend.

"Okay." Karin agreed. Sasuke took his backpack and walked towards the door, passing beside Naruto.

"You should thank me you know." Sasuke said.

"What? Why should I?"

"You like Sakura right? Now that I'm dating Karin, maybe that bitch will finally give up on her delusional infatuation with me. She's goddamn annoying." Sasuke whispered to him.

"What did you say about Sakura?!" Naruto raised his voice at him after he just talked badly about the girl Naruto wanted.

"Hn." Sasuke looked at Naruto unfazed, smirking actually. "I don't even get what you see in that girl. Better stay off someone like her. She only cares about herself, what she wants."

And then Sasuke walked pass him and out the door and said goodbye to Karin again. Naruto wanted to respond back to what Sasuke said to him but he was left with nothing to say. Because deep inside, what Sasuke said made a bit of sense. More so after what just happened between him and Sakura earlier. He heard the door close and now he was left with in the house with Karin who was looking at him.

"Why'd you have to go ruin the moment? I didn't want him to leave yet." Karin complained..

"Like I'd know about what's going on between you two. So what, he's really your boyfriend now?" Naruto asked again, wanting to make sure if this was no joke because it was hard to believe.

"Bro, how many times do you have to hear it? Sasuke is my boyfriend." she said with pride.

"Since when?"

"Since today."

"I don't believe it. It's been four days since he's been coming here. He can't just suddenly like you enough to be your boyfriend. He used to be annoyed with you." Naruto reminded her.

"Well that was long ago. I've changed. I'm not fangirling over him anymore and ever since Monday, I tried my best to not push myself into him like before. You know, like Sakura who he's really annoyed with." Karin said, repeating what Sasuke has told Naruto just before he left.

"I don't like Sasuke."

"Who said you should? He's not your boyfriend."

"Come on sis, he's a bastard, arrogant prick. A lot of guys don't like him. And he's never even shown any interest in girls before. For all you know he could just be using you for something." he warned.

"Ugh, don't talk like you know him Naruto. You guys who hate him are probably just jealous of him cause he's handsome, smart, and a lot of girls like him, especially since Sakura is one of them."

Naruto frowned upon hearing that. She was right. Sakura liking him was part, if not most of the reason he didn't like Sasuke. Cause if Sasuke didn't even exist maybe he's already dating Sakura.

"Ain't got anything to say about that, do you?" Karin raised one brow at Naruto. "If not, I'm gonna go to my room and do our Physics homework."

That reminded Naruto of his earlier conversation with Hinata. She offered to help him work on it through the phone. He just didn't feel it he should be doing it. Maybe Karin can help him.

"Hey uh, about that. Do you think you can teach me about that homework?" he asked Karin as she walked away, making her turn back at him and give him a confused look.

"Wait, you're really asking me for help on your homework?" she clarified.

"Uhm, yeah." Naruto confirmed with an embarrassed tone.

"I can teach you about the homework," Karin said making Naruto smile. "But I don't want to." And this put a very annoyed frown on Naruto's face. Just as expected from his sister. Maybe it was because of him saying all those things about Sasuke.

"But come on, that shit's so hard to understand. I don't have anyone to help me with it ezcept you."

"Not my problem. Maybe you could ask Hinata for help. She's smart and I bet she'll be willing to tutor you. She does like you a lot." Karin gave a wink to Naruto and it triggered a reddening of his cheeks hearing her name mentioned especially the word 'like'. Karin noticed this and decided to tease her brother for it.

"Oh my, you're blushing. You like her too don't you? After I told you, you probably noticed it and..."

"I do-don't like Hinata like that." Naruto cut her off but stuttered in the process, making it even more obvious to Karin that she's right on her hunch.

"You're denying it. You just stuttered. You do like her."

"I don't." Naruto insisted, sounding like a five-year old. "And besides, Kiba likes Hinata. So why would I like someone who my bestfriend already has dibs on?"

"Haha. You do like her. Bringing Kiba as an excuse for you not liking her seals it. You wouldn't be this flustered and defensive if you don't like her a bit."

"I said I don't like her!" Naruto stressed one more time. He groaned at his sister and announced he'll be going to his room too and that he didn't want to hear anymore of 'him liking Hinata' because he didn't. There's no way.

The time was 7:10 and after half an hour on his study table trying to understand his notes regarding resistance, parallel and serial curcuits, voltage and current, he finally sighed in defeat knowing full well he wasn't gonna get that stuff no matter what he did. Even the videos on YouTube couldn't help him even if the title said it was the easiest to understand explanation.

Maybe he should just give up and try to copy someone's answer tomorrow. Maybe Kiba knows it. He could call him. But if he did then he'll ask about Hinata. Then he'd have to explain why there was still no progress with his questioning and thinking about that made him remember the two of them feeding the kois together.

Naruto felt a pang in his stomach and his heart beat rise. Now even just thinking about Hinata was giving this reactions to his body. He didn't feel this when he started seeing her for the project and now after those many instances during the times he spent with her, he was beginning to see her differently.

'Ah shit, am I really beginning to like her? Is Karin right about me?' he asked himself with concern. 'I can't like her. She's Kiba's... and he's gonna be hell lot of pissed if he finds out I'm having a crush on her. Ah damn it, I can't believe I said that.'

Naruto grabbed his blond locks and tugged on it, thinking hard of what he was supposed to do. He didn't want to call Hinata for help. He was too nervous. But the homework, it was just impossible to understand. He's already failed to answer two Physics homework before and he's failed at least 4 quizzes. His grade was dropping and that was one of the reasons he took the project seriously. If he fails to understand the lesson and correctly answer the homework, he'll likely fail the quiz that will follow it.

He had no choice but to call Hinata. He opened his phone and searched for her name in the contacts. There it was and it even showed the log of the call she made two days ago when she informed him that they could study at her house. He took a deep breath and pressed the call button.

It rang. On the third ring it was picked up.

"He-hello?" Hinata now familiar voice said.

"H-hi Hinata. So uhm, about that Physics homework..."

TBC.

A/N:

Three months. And that was after chapter 8 took 4 months. I took 7 months to write 2 chapters. Shameful. It's just I'm having a hard time writing this story. Like I've mentioned before, this is my first time writing a straight multichap fic. It's been like 8 years since I've gotten a crush on a girl and I'm finding it hard to remember what made me develop a crush on those girls I previously had a crush on. I just know they didn't happen at first sight. They always took time to develop and I usually need to have a lot of encounters with them. Right now though I'm inclined to looking at guys and I kinda forget what made me like girls before because I don't see them in the same way as before.

I also have been busy writing Soul Insert, a multichap lime and lemon story of possessing bodies. Then I also started this KibaNaru multichap called Right Here For You. I have three multichaps to go around writing for their next chapters.

For those still staying with this story, thank you and my apologies for being so unproductive with this story. I do what I can. Leave your comments.


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